Like his braveheart character Havildar Ishwar Singh in the war drama Kesari that’s he currently making at Wai in Satara district, Akshay Kumar suffered an injury and had to take a break from shooting for the day. The Bollywood action superstar was advised rest for the painful injury he took to the ribs while filming the climax of Kesari.

Though he has a chopper on standby, Akshay refused to return to Mumbai, and instead retired to the accommodation Dharma Productions has provided in Wai for the cast and crew of the film. There the actor rested through the day. Tomorrow, he will take a call on whether he is fit to resume shooting and continue the heavy duty fight sequences he was closing today.

Kesari, which is co-produced by Cape of Good Films and Azure Entertainment, is based on the historic Battle of Saragarhi that was fought between 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Pashtun Orazkai tribesmen of the North West Frontier Province in 1897. Director Anurag Singh began shooting the film in January and they are already into the action-packed climax. Apparently, only about 20 percent of Kesari is left to be shot. This includes the fierce and bloody Battle of Saragarhi in which Akshay, playing Havildar Ishwar Singh who leads the Sikhs in the fight to death, is involved in several breathtaking sword and gun fights and some gritty hand-to-hand combat.

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The action sequences of Kesari are being choreographed by Lawrence Woodward who was the stunt coordinator of the Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015. Lawrence has reportedly trained Akshay in sword-fighting besides rehearsing the hand-to-hand combat scenes with the actor. The film is slated for a Holi release in 2019 and features Parineeti Chopra as the female lead across Akshay. The huge sets of Kesari in Wai town are built to resemble the Saragarhi and Gulistan forts of the British Empire as well as a village. The Battle of Saragarhi that was fought on September 12, 1897, is reckoned by military chroniclers as one of history’s greatest last-stands. Akshay Kumar, who is known to love action films, has thrown himself body and soul into Kesari and the cast and crew are hoping the actor is up and about and returns to action tomorrow.