Salman Khan said in an interview that if Veer fails he will take responsibility, this could be the time. Here, for a change, director Anil Sharma shifts the focus from Pakistan to British rule in India without compromising his high-speed talk of homeland, honor and machismo. The film stars Salman Khan in the title role and has one of the biggest hits of 2009 under its belt. He has also put himself in the shoes of a screenwriter with this film and it is obvious that this film is very close to him, but he disappoints his fans with his latest proposal.
It’s a well-known fact to moviegoers that Anil Sharma-directed films care less about the accuracy of historical facts and figures, but offer plenty of entertainment where the central character almost single-handedly defeats evil (remember Sunny Deol does in Gadar Ek Prem Katha). Here is Salman doing it to the ruler of his state who has allied himself with the British rule to oppress the Pindari tribes.
The film revolves around colonial India in 1862 and is mainly based on the Rajputana tribe of Pindari who are tough alcoholic warriors. They are good at war and good at drinking (that’s what the movie suggests). The film opens with the king of Madhav Garh betraying the Pindari tribe after winning a war against them, in order to appease the British. The tribes, as they wish, use revenge. The entire film revolves around his revenge and it is in the last scenes that the focus shifts from revenge to liberate India from British rule.
To achieve this revenge, the chief of the tribe Prithvi Singh (Mithun Chakraborty) sends his two sons Veer and Punya to England to learn how the firangi mind works and to beat them at their own game. The matter is complicated by the arrival of the princess of Madhav Garh played by Zarine Khan in Veer’s life, who falls in love with the princess. Our hero Veer fights fearlessly against the amoral king, the British government and lays the foundation for the Indian independence movement.
The problem with the movie is not the lack of logic but the amount of boredom it gives the viewer. The hero takes a man’s intestine with his bare hands, engages in a strange kind of Swayamwar to win the princess, and sees himself clothed in the motherland. Such things are just boring and even more so they give a quite comical angle to the movie which is obviously not the intention of the director and the screenwriter.
We have better movies in recent times about patriotism (Chak De) and epic movies (Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar). Here even the length of the film bores the viewer. The music is fine for the movie, if not great. The filmmakers have tried to give conviction to the project and have worked hard to make it work on screen.
The movie deserved a better script than this to support the hard work put in by Salman Khan in practically every scene. He has tried his best to take the movie to a new level, but unfortunately he has let himself down with this epic. His brilliant presence in every scene surely deserves approval.
The film has many exaggerated scenes and dialogue that give it an unintended comedic effect. Even the warrior Salman’s looks and his massive appeal might not save this movie from fading into oblivion in the near future. Watch the movie if you are a die-hard fan of Salman Khan or want to see the hard work put in by him or save it for a DVD later.
