Veer (Sharma, 2010)

VEER- Review-Mithun-Salman Khan

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VEER -2009-INDIA -MITHUN -SALMAN -SHROFF-DIR-ANIL SHARMA -4/10

Review By: Dr Usman Khawaja

The valour and veracity of cinema does not lie in the vast scale of it's production design but rather in a simple quotient called the vision of the maker ,as veer rolls off you experience visions of grandeur which remind you of the best of Bollywood like, Sholay and Aan, and you start dreading the oncoming debacle as you dubiously do not expect Anil Sharma to have even a fraction of the genius that was imbued upon Mehboob Khan or Ramesh Sippy, talents who equalled their Hollywood and global counterparts and even superseded them ,and that is exactly the problem that haunts Veer with its misdirection.

The clichéd plot from 1875 involves the noble struggle of a Pindari tribe for freedom from the clutches of the evil colonial British Empire, who indulge in divide and rule and here we see the conflict between two Rajputana tribes, Pindaris with their home-grown traditional patriotic values and Madavgarh as the treacherous traitors who have allied with the British Empire.

The majestic Mithun enters as the Pindari chief and he looks and acts every inch the warrior and stalwart he plays, while Salman khan is Veer and equally convincing as his cherished son who is something of a superlative warrior and honourable soldier, except that they look more like brothers as middle aged men rather than as father and son, but one can accept that as the plot evolves and veer is smuggled to Victorian London to learn the ruses of the British diplomacy with his younger brother-mini VEER–Sohail Khan-both in talent and stature ,and they start to sermonise and create havoc in the Victorian circles, which involves harassing English ladies eating "cone "ice creams[1875] and romancing the princess of Madavgarh, played by the quite pretty newcomer Zarine Khan, although she can not act or dance for her life but her face and figure are appealing.

Soon their secret is out and the London trip ends in a disaster, as the Pindaris are discovered for what they are by the Madavs, but meanwhile veer has sung and danced to two good songs in Somerset House with the founts playing that were just installed two years ago, and the Hermitage rooms are the setting for another song, which only were initiated a decade ago.

Still the movie is more authentic and engaging than the misery and blunders of Jodha Akbar and Mangal pandey, as Salman Khan manages to hold it with Mithun even for sometime post-interval and I found it engaging with ravishing production values, subtle colours and stunning costumes and choreography, barring some hilarious animation of Victorian London centred around Thames which looks straight out of a Pixar movie made for kids or adults on drugs.

But than Anil Sharma like a retarded miscreant starts to sabotage his own massala venture by indulging in the silly antics borrowed from his atrociously bad effrontery called GADAR, and you start getting nauseous and dizzy, while the poor actors start enacting scenes from Troy and Gladiator ,with some really over wrought stunts with skinhead wrestlers and British villains openly abusing Rajputs on their face in a feat of vulgarity, that will make your eyes bulge in wonder, it is a shame as with a little subtlety and restraint this could have been a quality production.

But as it stands leaving aside veritable performances from Mithun and Salman, four good songs penned by the genius of Gulzar and composed harmoniously and choreographed extremely well, alongside some great camera work, Veer is a rather vapid vessel which makes more noise than it delivers anything usefully entertaining, despite having the best musical soundtrack since Mani Ratnams equally flawed Guru.

As for the dialogues some are wisely penned and look like the brainchild of Gulzar, while others are totally delinquent like the of repeated Salman line where he claims to take out 5 kilograms of human flesh from his opponents body like he is shylock or a zombie, and Sharma actually was vulgar enough to show him doing so in one scene too, where he kills another Indian by eviscerating his liver and than brags about the fact that it will measure exactly 5 kilograms, I wish mister Sharma had an IQ =5, But that is hoping and expecting for a lot in the tedium of Bollywood today.

It can be watched once which is rather a blessing as I keep walking out of most Bollywood epics, but the idea of experiencing it again is like a nightmare in zombie land and the blame is squarely directed to Mr-Anil Sharma, who is a poor technician and a blot on Bollywood, but that applies to all mainstream directors today, as the last major movie of true merit and artistic elements was Fashion.

NB
I am delighted ANTAHEEN AND FASHION have swept the prestigious silver Lotus awards clean within all the categories and well done Bhandarkar and Bollywood, as Fashion is a venture that can compare and compete with any global product in contention.

RATING: 4/10