Veer

Anil Sharma's Magnum Opus, 'Veer' is finally out. Is it good, it worth the hype? The answer is a big YES! 'Veer' is a great entertainer, it's escapist cinema at its best!

'Veer' takes inspiration from the cult classic 'Taras Bulba' & writer Salman Khan excepts the fact. But taking inspiration is no sin, it's no law-breaker. 'Veer' starts off the bang & ends the very same. Sure it slips in the middle {post-interval in the love story becomes boring} but a terrific finale takes away all the blemishes.

'Veer' is a film targeted at the front-bencher's, with Clap-worthy dialogs, Massy stars like Mithun & Salman, terrific locales. 'Veer' is meant for those who enjoy Cinema some times, because of it's escapism.

Pluses: Sharma's direction is good, wish he could've edited those boring portions in the second hr. Cinematography by Gopal Shah is so good, that he deserves a National-Award for his work in here. Music by Sajid-Wajid is beautiful. All the songs have a haunting tune. Background score is gripping. Performances are up-the-mark: Salman as Veer is very good; the Good-Looking Superstar delivers one of his careers best performances. Mithun is terrific. The Legendary actor plays the role of a lead Pindari with rare ease & understanding. Jackie is killer as the conniving villain. New-find Zarine Khan is not only a pretty face, but also a good performer. Puru Raaj Kumar is excellent, while Aryan Vaid doesn't get much scope. Neena Gupta is good.

Minuses: As mentioned, The second hr loses pace. In fact the Love Story seems boring. Sohail Khan's comedy track is absolutely bland.

On the whole 'Veer' is entertainment at its best. Go in with Popcorn, Nachos, Samosas & a large Pepsi. Thumbs Up!

Veer's production budget was rumored to be around Rs 50 crore. Obviously that raised my expectations to a new height. Had my fingers crossed and hoped that Salman Khan might have finally delivered something laudable. But within 10 minutes into the movie, I knew that I was going to be greatly disappointed, once again.

The story was simply absurd. Any story on the struggle for independence against British Raj should not be narrated with so much surrealism. The viewers must be somehow influenced to be sympathetic and respectful to the characters who fought long and hard to win our freedom. Instead, the movie felt like a stupid joke at times and many people inside the theater started laughing. In the process of writing a period movie, the writer seemed to have been lost in time a few times. Certain parts of the story (in London) felt too modern to be early twentieth century. If Mangal Pandey ought to be criticized for lacking sense of proportion then I am not even sure what to say about Veer.

Salman Khan should consider some training in serious acting. His expressionless face became a burden to watch at times. He should realize that it is time for him to come on the screen as the character, not as Salman Khan. The lead actress was equally inept in her role. Mithun Chakravarty was melodramatic as usual, but he was bearable. The quality of the English actors was mostly poor.

I must admire the technical aspects of the movie though. The sets, costumes, artifacts, decorations, computer graphics, cinematography, etc were one of the best I have seen in Indian movies. Editing could have been better. Some of the fight scenes and stunts seemed old school and felt flimsy in comparison to standard Hollywood action movies.

Anyway, I believe such astronomical production cost and efforts could have been much better utilized on a story from Ramayan or Mahabharat.

Veer written by Salman Khan is plain average. There are so many loopholes in the film's screenplay. Anil Sharma who directed the super hit Gadar delivers a flop this time. The music of this film is below average. The cinematography is good. The story of the film is nothing great. The promos made me excited.But unfortunately the movie turns to be a plunder. Performance wise-Salman Khan is excellent,amazing,dynamic as Veer.Watch out for his entry sequence or at the end during the swayamvar scene.He rocks.Mithun Da is very good.Sohail Khan irritates.Jackie Shroff is bland.Zarine Khan is no Katrina Kaif.She is okay.Neena Gupta is wasted.

On the whole Veer is sheer disappointment.

Five things about Veer are actually good, even very good: Jackie Shroff, Mithun Chakraborthy, the music, the visuals, and the basic idea. And that's about where it ends. I won't even start listing those things that are bad...

Apparently, Veer was meant to become The Salman Khan Movie To End All Salman Khan Movies. Salman himself is responsible for the story, which supposedly took him no less than twenty years. The result proves that whatever one may think about Sallu, story-writing is definitely Not His Thing. It should be said, the first 30 minutes of the movie are promising and evoke high expectations, but all the rest is just one big and rather tasteless ego-trip. To such a degree that you can't even say this movie is about Veer at all... no, it is about Salman: Salman dressed up as a Pindari, Salman dressed up as an English gentleman, Salman dressed up as a gladiator, Salman dressed up as Highlander, Salman dressed up as an Indian prince, and of course, Salman in his trademark outfit, his naked muscled chest. The story appears to be completely subordinated to Salman, his poses and his costumes.

The role of princess Yashodhara was obviously meant to be played by Salman's fiancée, but because Katrina had other obligations, he had to find replacement. And so he picked a débutante as his heroine, whose only asset appears to be a certain physical similarity to La Kaif. Mistake number 2, because "Zatrina" quite clearly lacks the talent, the acting skills and the charisma to pull off this one. Her screen presence irritates from the first to the last scene, even though the role wasn't a particularly challenging one anyway. In fact, the film would have been a lot better off without the whole obligatory love story, annoying even for Bollywood standards.

Watching this movie, I got the impression that Salman hoped to create his own "Jodhaa Akbar" or "The Rising". But all he managed was creating his own "Dharam Veer" - without Dharam to that! Manmohan Desai's "Dharam Veer" is at least funny and absurd, however, Salman's Veer is not funny at all. If he would at least have added some humor the Veer character, things might have turned out differently, because Salman happens to a good comedian from time to time. But instead, he left the comedy bits to his brother Sohail who, although not a bad actor himself, is notoriously bad at comedy. And thus, the movie that was supposed to showcase all Salman's abilities as an actor, turns out more successful at showcasing his limitations. The feeling that remains is that this movie deserved to become something much better than it actually became: a major disappointment.

Veer is no art-house flick and nor is it historically accurate. Its a historical drama with an entertainment capacity only. One cannot expect to watch this film and analyze it as being "poetry in motion" or groundbreaking.

Like most Salman Khan movies its a pure entertainer and quite paisa vasool in this regard. There are cringe worthy moments with the historical inaccuracies (would there really have been female "exchange students" in the era in question?)and following the interval the film loses some momentum. However whilst these flaws are present they are overshadowed by the stellar aspects of the film such as the impactful performances and melodious music.

Salman Khan is PHENOMENAL in and as Veer. During the course of the film one cannot separate him from Veer and never has he delivered such a consistent serious performance. His role is strong, powerful and intense which he meets all throughout the film, to the extent that one is able to overlook the films ludicrous historical inaccuracies.

Mithunda is another consistent and powerful performer in the film. He is a pleasure to watch and the audience will find themselves missing him in the portion of the film Veer is in England. All the other cast are strictly OK, understandable by the sheer strength and presence in the performances mentioned before. As far as Zarine Khan is concerned her role is undemanding,however her screen presence ought to be noted.

The films music alongside the awesome performances is another of it's assets. All the songs are beautiful and well placed in the film. Surprisingly none of the songs stick out like a sore thumb and really enhance the film.

What exactly happens post-interval is difficult to pinpoint, the plot slackens and it hits the viewer as it was preceded by the such an engrossing and speedy first half. However the film does quicken toward the end and the ending coupled with Salman and Mithunda's intensity and chemistry can almost make the viewer forget the preceding "shonkiness".

Veer is not the greatest film ever made, but it isn't the worst as one of its critics cited (comparing it to Tashan!). It is a mega entertainer, a great cinematic experience and perhaps one of Salman Khan's best performances.