3 minutes of readingChennaiFebruary 5, 2026 12:41 pm IST
Suniel Shetty He starred in the 2025 film Kesari Veer, which was based on the multiple destructions of the Somnath temple in Gujarat. However, the film was released and withdrawn without generating much noise at the box office. In a recent interaction, soliel spoke about why the film did not work commercially and also shared his views on films being made on historical figures like Akbar and Babur, while saying that Rajput kings and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are not talked about enough.
Talking to Lehr Retro about Kesari Veer and how he did extensive research on the history of Somnath Temple before starring in the film, he said, “We did a lot of research before making the film, but unfortunately, the distribution of the film was not done properly. Distribution is a big game, we didn’t get cinema halls. The producer lost a lot of money because he distributed it himself to people and that didn’t work. A good film went down the drain.”
When asked if he feels very interested in the subject, Suniel said, “Why do we talk about Aurangzeb, Akbar, Babur, Birbal? Our history should be about our culture. It should be about the Vedas and the Rajputs and Shivaji Maharaj and everyone else, every hero of every state.” He added: “I feel very emotional about the Somnath temple. How many times it was looted, but it still stands.”
Earlier, while promoting his film Prithviraj Chauhan, actor Akshay Kumar had demanded that Indian history textbook focus on “our culture”. “Unfortunately, our history books only have 2-3 lines about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan, but a lot has been mentioned about the invaders. Hardly anything is mentioned about our culture and our maharajas. I was surprised that there are so many things about Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan that we don’t know.”
Earlier in January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Somnath temple in Gujarat to participate in the “Somnath Swabhiman Parv”, which commemorates 1,000 years since the first recorded invasion of the shrine in 1026. Omkar was chanted continuously for 72 hours on the occasion. The Prime Minister also led the “Shaurya Yatra” and witnessed a light show with 3,000 drones.
Suniel Shetty recently made a cameo in Border 2, starring his son Ahan Shetty, along with Sunny Deol, who was also a part of the original 1997 film, Diljit Dosanjh and Varun Dhawan in the lead roles. Suniel also has a multi-starrer film Welcome to the Jungle in the pipeline and is also a part of Hera Pheri 3.