Kesari Chapter 2 directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, is led by Akshay Kumar, R Madhavan, and Ananya Panday. The film was released in theatres on April 18, 2025. The plot which revolves around the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, has been receiving mixed reviews.
The surprise element in the film was Masaba Gupta's dance number Khumaari. Masaba was seen in a cabaret dancer avatar, and her smooth moves were well-lauded.
In conversation with SCREEN, Masaba revealed that she manifested this gig after watching Samantha's sizzling performance in Oo Antava in Pushpa: The Rise. Masaba also added that she has no issues with item numbers, as long as it stands for something.
She said, "No, I was not concerned that it would be an item song. One, because I had heard about the script. Karan took me through the gist of the storyline and I knew that it was an interesting, impactful, courtroom drama. So the base was set as something not frivolous already, right? Secondly, anything that you do that has a period nuance attached to it, automatically in my head, is elevated from being an item song. Having said that, I don't have an issue with item songs but the item song has to stand for something."
She added, "I was very impressed with Samantha Ruth Prabhu's Oo Antava (Pushpa: The Rise), and I've always wanted to do something like that. In fact, when I saw that song, I manifested this number in my head because I wanted to do what Samantha did and I wanted the impact to be similar. I thought the song had such a strong message that it really surpassed being just another item song. If an item song is done tastefully, there's nothing wrong in being a part of it."
Masaba Gupta made her acting debut with the Netflix series Masaba Masaba, where she also shared screen space with her mother Neena Gupta.