印度情‧印度事

Veer (film)
(From Wikipedia)

Directed by     Anil Sharma
Produced by     Vijay Galani
Sunil A. Lulla
Written by     Salman Khan
Shailesh Verma
Starring     Salman Khan
Zarine Khan
Mithun Chakraborty
Sohail Khan
Jackie Shroff
Music by     Sajid-Wajid
Cinematography     Gopal Shah
Editing by     Ashfaque Makrani
Distributed by     Eros International
Release date(s)     22 January 2010 (2010-01-22)
Running time     155 minutes
Country     India
Language     Hindi
Budget     Indian rupee 40 crore[1]
Gross revenue     Indian rupee 49.75 crore[2]

Veer (Hindi: वीर) is a 2010 Hindi film directed by Anil Sharma, and starring Salman Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Sohail Khan, Jackie Shroff and Zarine Khan.[3] The film, written by Salman Khan, is an epic film, set during the 1825 Pindari movement of Rajasthan, when India was ruled by the British.

Veer was released on 22 January 2010.[4] It received a mainly negative critical reception and was declared a below average performer at the Indian box office.[5]

Plot

Veer Singh (Salman Khan) is a Pindari Prince and the son of the great Pindari warrior, Prithviraj Singh (Mithun Chakraborty), who was known for his great battles to free India from British rule. Veer wishes to continue his father's legacy by leading a movement of Pindaris against the British in order to free both the Rajasthani Kingdom of Madghavah and the rest of India from the great colonial power. Veer receives the help of his younger brother, Punya Singh (Sohail Khan) in gathering together an army. However Veer finds opposition from the King of Madghavah, Ajmal Khan (Jackie Shroff), who sees Veer as a threat to his rule and orders for Veer to be killed. Veer and Punya along with their supporters go into hiding within the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, while Khan makes an alliance with the British Governor of Rajasthan, James Fraser (Tim James Lawrence), saying that Madghavah will support the British in crushing the Pindari movement and eliminating Veer.

To keep stakes high, the Pindaris kidnap Khan's daughter Princess Yashodhara (Zarine Khan), who Veer finds himself in love with. The Pindaris then make a failed attempt to take down Khan's palace by surprise. However Khan's spies discover the plan and thousands of Pindari warriors are slaughtered while Veer discovers the truth that Khan murdered his father Prithviraj, but fails to get his revenge on the corrupt King. In the meantime, Lady Angela Fraser (Lisa Lazarus), wife of British Governor James Fraser, begins to question her husband's actions as he supports Khan in slaughtering members of the Pindari movement. However Fraser refuses to back down his campaign in crushing the Pindari movement of Rajasthan. Following the failed attempt to capture Madghavah Palace, Veer gets the people of Madghavah and other Kingdoms together in order to prepare for a final battle against the British to free Rajasthan of both British rule and Madghavah of King Ajmal Khan's rule. Punya tries to make peace with the British, yet he is unsuccessful and war is declared between the Pindaris and the Colonials. Despite the equipment of the British, Veer, with the support of Madghavah, the neighbouring Rajasthani Kingdoms and the Pindaris is able to smash the British with exceptional teamwork. Fraser surrenders his troops. Yet Khan refuses to give up without a fight and challenges Veer to a fight until death. The two fight with swords in which Veer kills Khan, taking revenge on him for killing his father. Britain loses control of Rajasthan and Fraser, along with the rest of the British in Rajasthan are forced to return home and report on their loss to Queen Victoria of Britain. Veer gets married to Yashodhara and is rightfully crowned the King of Madghavah, with a plan to continue on his quest to create an independent India.

Cast

    * Salman Khan as Veer
    * Mithun Chakraborty as Prithviraj Singh, Veer's father
    * Sohail Khan as Punya, Veer's brother
    * Jackie Shroff as Ajmal Khan, the king of Madghavah and father of Yashodhara
    * Zarine Khan as Princess Yashodhara, Veer's love
    * Lisa Lazarus as Lady Angela Fraser, wife of Governor James Fraser
    * Tim James Lawrence as James Fraser, Governor General of Rajasthan
    * Bianca Van Varenberg
    * Khurram Tejrar
    * Gita Soto
    * Neena Gupta
    * Aryan Vaid
    * Bharat Dabholkar
    * Bunny Anand[6]
    * Shahbaaz Khan
    * Puru Raajkumar
    * Militza Radmilovic
    * Sully
    * Charissa Glidden as the Governess
    * Roy Bronsgeest as Rhino[7]
    * Taylor Wright
    * Luke Groves

Production

The story was written by Salman Khan twenty years ago[8], who described it as his dream project.[9] At that time, Khan planned to direct the film himself and cast Sanjay Dutt in the lead role.[10] Veer is also partly based on the Russian novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol.[4] For his role as Veer, Salman Khan went on a special diet and worked out with a personal trainer.[11] For her role as a 19th century princess, Zarine Khan put on eight kilos of extra weight.[12]

Principal photography for Veer began on 1 December 2008. Portions of the film were originally scheduled to be shot at the College of Engineering and the Agricultural College in Pune, but due to the swine flue outbreak the locations were moved to Mumbai.[13] Other location shooting took place in Jaipur and Bikaner. Location shooting at Amber Fort in Jaipur was also interrupted when several onlookers were injured and the Rajasthan High Court ordered a halt to filming. A case was filed against Anil Sharma accusing the film crew of damaging the fort, violating several conservation laws and causing the structure's 500-year-old roof to collapse.[14] The crew finished their shoot after paying Rs. 20 lakh in damages.[15]

Marketing

The trailer of Veer was released on 27 November 2009 at the screening of Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan.[16] The first song promo, "Salaam Aaya", was released on 13 December 2009. The song "Surili akhiyon wale" was released later. A short action trailer and a trailer featuring the song "Meherbaniyan" were also released.[citation needed]

Reception
Critical reception

The movie was generally panned by critics.[17] Taran Adarsh criticized the writing and direction of the movie, describing it as a colossal disappointment.[18] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN termed it as "an impossible film to appreciate", criticizing the performance of the support cast, while praising the performance of Salman Khan.[19] Gaurav Malani praised the performance of Salman Khan, while terming the story as average.[20] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL.in also praised Salman Khan but added "Overall, ‘Veer’ has it’s pluses but it is sadly restricted to a very average film. It has nothing new and that only makes it seem slower."[21] NkS Reviews It rated it 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Veer is an epic at its best...If you like period films then you'll like Veer. If you are a Salman Khan fan then Veer shouldn’t be missed even for all the money in the world." The blog also praised Salman Khan's performance highly by saying, "..no other actor in Bollywood could have done this role so convincingly as Salman Khan did. He is spectacularly stupendous with the Veer tag."[22]

Among U.S. critics, Frank Lovece of Film Journal International enjoyed it as "hokum of the highest order, punctuated with the most rousing musical sequences of the last several Indian imports," and after dissecting the film's numerous historical and chronological fallacies said, "Stateside Bollywood fans more accustomed to modern-day musical romances or stylish crime thrillers will be pleasantly surprised to find a period piece that's more Xena: Warrior Princess than A Passage to India.[23]

Box office

The film did very well in single screens in Rajasthan and other areas in North India. According to Eros, Veer grossed Rs. 32.5 crore net in its first week in India, including the Telugu version.[24] As of 4 March 2010, the film grossed 48,00,00,000. It was declared a below average performer at the box office.

Allegations of plagiarism

On 23 January 2010, author Pavan Chaudhary filed a Rs. 2 Million suit against Khan, Anil Sharma and producer Vijay Kumar Galani, alleging that the film borrowed elements from his novel, Trilogy of Wisdom. The suit calls for a halt of the film's screenings.[25][26]
[edit] Criticism

The Rajput youth organisation Karni Sena was heavily critical of Veer, alleging that portions of the dialogue are "derogatory and demeaning for the Rajput community". Members of the group attacked several multiplexes in Jaipur, vandalising posters and smashing windows. Anil Sharma responded that it was a misunderstanding and no insult had been intended towards the Rajput community.[27]
[edit] Soundtrack
Veer
Soundtrack by Sajid- Wajid
Released     December 17, 2009 (2009-12-17)
Genre     Film soundtrack
Label     Eros Music
Sajid- Wajid chronology
Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
(2009)     Veer
(2010)     Dabanng
(2010)

The film's music was released on 17 December 2009. The film's songs are composed by Sajid-Wajid and the lyrics are written by Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar.

The music received generally positive reviews from critics with Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama giving it an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5.[28] The songs, Surili Akhiyon Wale, Salaam Aaya and Taali received special praise.[28]
Song     Singer(s)     Duration
"Meherbaniyan"     Sonu Nigam     4:29
"Taali"     Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Wajid, Neuman Pinto     6:10
"Surili Akiyon Wale"     Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Suzanne D'Mello     5:31
"Kanha (Thumari)"     Rekha Bhardwaj, Sharib Sabri, Toshi Sabri, Shabaab Sabri     4:36
"Taali (solo)"     Sukhwinder Singh     6:01
"Surili Akiyon Wale"     Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suzanne D'Mello     5:23
"Salaam Aaya"     Roop Kumar Rathod, Shreya Ghoshal     4:45
"Spirit Of Veer"     Instrumental     0:58