Veer Review (2010)

Though India is known to have one of the greatest cultures and histories all over the world, it is sad to note that there is not a single movie in recent times that has even tried show a mirror to one of the greatest histories in mankind that have been written in blood. There have been some movies, yes, like Asoka, Jodha Akbar, and of course Razia Sultana and Mugal E Azam of yore, but its find to find that 'One' movie that tells us about India's heritage.

One of the main reasons that most period and historical pieces have fallen on their faces is that either the movie makers become too passionate about their subject, or that they begin to concentrate more on the love stories - any love story that would work with the storyline.

Veer, which was supposed to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2010, and the fact that the hunk of a hero Salman Khan was to play the titular role based on a legendary character, was a option to change all that. But sadly, it goes down the same garden path that the previous movies have gone to.

Cast:

• Salman Khan as Veer
• Mithun Chakraborty as Prithvi Singh, Veer's father
• Sohail Khan as Punya, Veer's brother
• Jackie Shroff as the king of Madhavgarh and father of Yashodhara
• Zarine Khan as Princess Yashodhara, Veer's love
• Lisa Lazarus as Angelina

Storyline:

This period piece is set during British ruled India, and is based in the world of the Pindharis, who were once betrayed by the Prince of Madhavgarh. The story tells us about Prithvi Singh, who basically hones his son to exact revenge to the 4500 people who had died due to the betrayal of the Prince. How the son exacts revenge, and ends up falling in love with the daughter of the enemy forms the rest of the story.

Review:

When you look at the possibilities that Veer could become, and you look at what the makers have come up with, you feel that the movie is a big let down. They story itself had everything, right from That One Sequence that sets up the story, the hunk of a hero who is perfect for franchises, an assortment of stony faced, masculine characters and faces enough to fill up the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and of course, a budget that surpassed most other movies in recent times.

While Veer starts off as a sort of revenge movie (which would be fine, if it were like that), it then meanders into a longish story arc about Veer falling in love with the daughter, killing her brother, teaching a teacher in London that India is great, etc. The middle of the movie is so boring that you might just walk off the theater without waiting for the climax.

And that does not mean that the climax is anything to write home about. After what seemed like hours of this guy courting the princess, all we have is the rag tag team barging into a castle and killing the main villain, the King of Madhavgarh, a scene which again does not deliver, because it just has the three guys crossing swords into the camera and the King withering and dying. Now, comparing it to the medieval movies would be quite ridiculous, and not because the makers did not have the resource - it was simply because they did not know what to do with the resource.

For a movie that was touted to be one of the greatest action entertainers in a while,. the action scenes seem soulless and directionless. The scenes seems like they have been added as an afterthought to the entire movie. Of course, the makers do try to put some 300 style sequences, but while they succeed in technically creating the scene, the scenes lack the soul that a medieval revenge movie would possess.