Basically Pindaris were freelance mercenaries who survived in the jungles and were extremely good in commando warfare. They were patronised by the Marathas for fighting the mughals and the British. Whenever required they were called to cause considerable damage to the enemies. They survived on looting the wealth of the british empire in Musalipatnam, Gujerat and Mirzapur. They moved from one territory to another quickly so that the enemy were unable to keep track of their movements. They became an impediment to the expansion of the British empire in India.
The story of VEER is based in Rajasthan with Madhavgarh as the focal territory. The history of the rivalry goes back to 1820s when Pidaris were ruling the roost in the jungles of Malwa and surrounding areas. Jackie Shroff( Raja of Madhavgarh) betrays Prithvi Singh( Mithun ) in the battlefield and takes the help of the British to massacre the Pindaris in the battlefield. Prithivi singh chops off the hand of Raja and escapes to the jungle. The battle scene is beautifully picturised in the ravines and desert of Rajasthan.
Prithvi Singh is blessed with a Son VEER( Salman Khan) He is trained to become a warrior by his father. He calls him Dade, and mock fights are played between father and son. Here the director fails to show some jungle hunting scenes etc which could have been a part of commando training technique and warfare. However for the fear of censorship and protest the scenes may have been left untouched. A computer graphics could have been adopted like in the horse battle scenes.
After Salman grows up he is initiated into the plundering the British and their royal patrons. In one such scene reminiscent of Sholay train scene, he and his brother Arbaaz along with confidents attack a steam engine train to loot the treasury. The scene is typically shot like Sholay Jai Veeru along with Thakur scene. The SFX is obviously more modern and slick. Here he meets his charming princess Yashodara( Zarine Khan) He snatches away her most valuable ornament which is legacy of the queen mother. The consorts of Yashodra beseech Veer to hand over the prized possession of the princess, which he duly obliges in style. A portion of the jewel stays put on his jacket to be handed over in the later part of the film.
The movie takes quiet a twist with Veer and Puniya to be educated under the British reformation program for tribals. The brothers reluctantly land in vintage London. Some comic scenes are exhibited among the crowd by the brothers, and ultimately Salman spots his elusive princess Yashodra in horse carriage. The brother and cousin of the Princess are quite arrogant and upto insulting Veer and his brother. Eventually the story takes a twist with some bloodshed and the storyline begins to take a serious turn.
Veer has lost his heart to the princess Yashodara, she in turn being daughter of Madhavgarhs King is in a dilemma to protect her empire from the enemies. Veer being son of the enemy naturally is a descendent of the legacy. The rivalry takes various twists and turns. Ultimately will Veer get to re-unite with his princess is the key to the story. Songs are passe, cinematography is good, dialouges particularly in the class room is quite hair raising. Datelines of historical period seems to be quite offtrack for sake of dramatisation I hope.
The theatre had 50% occupancy. There were some dramatics with some arguement and fights within the theatre which added to excitement of the movie. The young crowd was belligerent and whistling as if they are drawn into the battle whenever Salaman entered the arena for fighting. Inorder to embedd a love story with a unknown face and pull it off is a stupendous effort. Kudos to Anil Sharma director and the producers. More battle scenes would have added to the overall movie watching excitement.
I was basically drawn to this movie because of Salman participating in an exhibition horse racing in Mumbai which was telecast live in Bangalore Turf Club. This acted as a perfect tonic to perk up the movie promo, which otherwise has been low key. The movie stakes are quite high with 150 crores. I am sure the movie will make profits within two weeks. Kudos to the producers for investing in a historic movie.
Overall Veer is a good epic movie with mercenary background. Love in the background adds as a filler to the movie for its song and dance. The one legged dance performance of Salman is fabulous watch it Insallah.
TITBITS:
With so many retakes on horse riding I strong reckon that some actors maybe compelled to wear abdomen guards, like the cricketers to avoid injury. Lol
Sword fights between Mithun and Salman caused many a injury on Salman, once he literally fainted another time he got pierced by sword on his back, leading to bleeding and hospitalisation.
Salman had a miraclous escape along with the stuntmen Vikram, while standing on the horsebacks to perform the stunt. This is one of the classic stunt wherein his presence of mind saved himself and stuntmen from having a nasty fall.
Some of the incidents were narrated in the Dance India Dance show, try to watch the repeat on Zee TV to catch up on the sidelights of the movie which is the costliest Bollywood movie upto date