Veer (film)
Encyclopedia
Veer is a 2010 Hindi film
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 directed by Anil Sharma
Anil Sharma
-Biography:He made his directional debut with Shradhanjali with Raakhee Gulzar. He had directed several unsuccessful and unnoticed films in the early 1980s before he started also to produce films with Elaan-E-Jung which was also directed by him and became the first production film of his to become...

, and starring Salman Khan
Salman Khan
Salman Khan is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi with Rekha in a lead role, had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , for which he won a Filmfare Award for...

, Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya , for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor....

, Sohail Khan
Sohail Khan
Sohail Khan is an Indian director, writer, producer and actor working in the Hindi cinema. He is the younger brother of actors Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan...

, Jackie Shroff
Jackie Shroff
Jackie Shroff is an Indian actor. He has been in the industry for more than 28 years and has appeared in over 150 films.-Personal life:...

 and Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. She made her acting debut in the 2010 period film Veer co-starring with Salman Khan. Khan has been noted for looks very similar to actress Katrina Kaif.-Early life:...

. The film, written by Salman Khan, set during the 1825 Pindari movement of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, when India was ruled by the British.

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

Plot

Veer Pratap Singh (Salman Khan
Salman Khan
Salman Khan is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi with Rekha in a lead role, had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , for which he won a Filmfare Award for...

) is a Pindari
Pindari
The Pendharis or Free Companions were dispersed throughout the Maratha states and were countenanced and protected by the Maratha chiefs to whom they acted as agents for supplying all the commissariat required by their armies. They were composed of different tribes who congregated together solely...

 Prince and the son of the great Pindari warrior, Prithvi Singh (Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya , for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor....

), who was known for his great battles to free India from British rule
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

. Veer wishes to continue his father's legacy by leading a movement of Pindaris against the British in order to free both the Rajasthani
Rajasthani people
Rajasthani people are the native inhabitants of Rajasthan region of India. They form an ethnic group which is a result of assimilation of Scytho-Dravidian, Aryo-Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Indo-Scythian, Indo-Greeks, Indo-Iranians and Austro-Asiatic ancestries...

 Kingdom of Madhavghar and the rest of India from the great colonial power. Veer receives the help of his younger brother, Punya Singh (Sohail Khan
Sohail Khan
Sohail Khan is an Indian director, writer, producer and actor working in the Hindi cinema. He is the younger brother of actors Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan...

) in gathering together an army. However Veer finds opposition from the King of Madhavghar, Gyanendra Singh (Jackie Shroff
Jackie Shroff
Jackie Shroff is an Indian actor. He has been in the industry for more than 28 years and has appeared in over 150 films.-Personal life:...

), who sees Veer as a threat to Madhavghar and his rule and orders for Veer to be killed. Veer and Punya along with their supporters go into hiding within the Thar Desert
Thar Desert
The Thar Desert |Punjab]] province. The Cholistan Desert adjoins the Thar desert spreading into Pakistani Punjab province.-Location and description:...

 of Rajasthan, while Singh makes an alliance with the British Governor of Rajasthan, James Fraser (Tim James Lawrence), saying that Madhavghar will support the British in crushing the Pindari movement and eliminating Veer.

To keep stakes high, the Pindaris kidnap Singh's daughter Princess Yashodhara (Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan
Zarine Khan is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. She made her acting debut in the 2010 period film Veer co-starring with Salman Khan. Khan has been noted for looks very similar to actress Katrina Kaif.-Early life:...

), who Veer finds himself in love with. The Pindaris then make a failed attempt to take down Singh's palace by surprise. However Singh's spies discover the plan and thousands of Pindari warriors are slaughtered. Veer fails to get his revenge on the corrupt King. In the meantime, Lady Angela Fraser (Lisa Lazarus
Lisa Lazarus
-Biography:Lazarus was born in Llanelli, Wales in 1987, the daughter of psychic journalist Diane Lazarus. Lazarus attended the University of Hertfordshire where she studied her degree in Diagnostic Radiography...

), wife of British Governor James Fraser, begins to question her husband's actions as he supports the evil king in slaughtering members of the Pindari movement. However Fraser refuses to back down his campaign in crushing the Pindari movement of Rajasthan.

Cast

  • Salman Khan
    Salman Khan
    Salman Khan is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi with Rekha in a lead role, had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , for which he won a Filmfare Award for...

     as Veer Pratap Singh
  • Mithun Chakraborty
    Mithun Chakraborty
    Mithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya , for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor....

     as Prithvi Singh, Veer's father
  • Sohail Khan
    Sohail Khan
    Sohail Khan is an Indian director, writer, producer and actor working in the Hindi cinema. He is the younger brother of actors Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan...

     as Punya Pratap Singh, Veer's brother
  • Jackie Shroff
    Jackie Shroff
    Jackie Shroff is an Indian actor. He has been in the industry for more than 28 years and has appeared in over 150 films.-Personal life:...

     as Gyanendra Singh, the king of Madhavghar and father of Yashodhara
  • Zarine Khan
    Zarine Khan
    Zarine Khan is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. She made her acting debut in the 2010 period film Veer co-starring with Salman Khan. Khan has been noted for looks very similar to actress Katrina Kaif.-Early life:...

     as Princess Yashodhara, Veer's lover
  • Lisa Lazarus
    Lisa Lazarus
    -Biography:Lazarus was born in Llanelli, Wales in 1987, the daughter of psychic journalist Diane Lazarus. Lazarus attended the University of Hertfordshire where she studied her degree in Diagnostic Radiography...

     as Lady Angela Fraser, wife of Governor James Fraser
  • Tim James Lawrence as James Fraser, Governor General of Rajasthan
    Rajasthan
    Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

  • Bianca Van Varenberg
    Bianca Van Varenberg
    Bianca Van Varenberg , professionally known as Bianca Bree, is an American actress, who has appeared in such films as The Shepherd: Border Patrol, The Eagle Path and Assassination Games.-Personal life:...

  • Khurram Tejrar
  • Gita Soto
  • Neena Gupta
    Neena Gupta
    Neena Gupta is an Indian film and television actress and director-producer. She won the 1994 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Woh Chokri. She is a popular actress in Indian commercial cinema, but it is her work with art filmmakers of India, like Shyam Benegal that got her...

     as Veer's mother
  • Aryan Vaid
    Aryan Vaid
    Aryan Vaid is an Indian male model who won the Graviera Mr. India modelling pageant in the year 2000.-Career:Vaid is a qualified chef and a lifestyle columnist with The Hindustan Times. He has been actively involved with theatre and has done a few street plays at the Prithvi theatre in Mumbai...

  • Bharat Dabholkar
  • Bunny Anand
  • Shahbaaz Khan
  • Puru Raajkumar
    Puru Raajkumar
    Puru Raajkumar is an Indian film actor. He is the son of the late veteran actor Raaj Kumar. He was also arrested in a hit and run accident in which several sleeping pavement dwellers were killed, although he was never convicted for the same....

  • Militza Radmilovic
  • Sully
  • Charissa Glidden as the Governess
  • Roy Bronsgeest as Rhino
  • Taylor Wright
  • Luke Groves

Production

The story was written by Salman Khan
Salman Khan
Salman Khan is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi with Rekha in a lead role, had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , for which he won a Filmfare Award for...

 twenty years ago, who described it as his dream project. At that time, Khan planned to direct the film himself and cast Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt is an Indian Hindi film actor and politician. Dutt, son of Hindi film actors Sunil and Nargis Dutt, made his acting debut in 1981.-Personal life:...

 in the lead role. Veer is also partly based on the Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 novel Taras Bulba
Taras Bulba
Taras Bulba is a romanticized historical novel by Nikolai Gogol. It tells the story of an old Zaporozhian Cossack, Taras Bulba, and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap. Taras’ sons studied at the Kiev Academy and return home...

by Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...

. For his role as Veer, Salman Khan went on a special diet and worked out with a personal trainer. For her role as a 19th century princess, Zarine Khan put on eight kilos of extra weight.

Principal photography for Veer began on 1 December 2008. Portions of the film were originally scheduled to be shot at the College of Engineering
College of Engineering, Pune
College of Engineering, Pune is an engineering college in Pune, India. Established in 1854, it is the third oldest engineering college in Asia, after the College of Engineering, Guindy and IIT Roorkee...

 and the Agricultural College in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, but due to the swine flu outbreak
2009 flu pandemic in India
2009 flu pandemic in India is the outbreak of swine flu in various parts of India. Soon after the outbreak of H1N1 virus in the United States and Mexico in March, the Government of India started screening people coming from the affected countries at airports for swine flu symptoms...

 the locations were moved to Mumbai. Other location shooting took place in Jaipur and Bikaner. Location shooting at Amber Fort
Amber Fort
Amer Fort is located in Amer , from Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India. It is one of the principal tourist attractions in the Jaipur area, located high on a hill. .Amer Fort was made by Meenas king Raja Alan Singh Chanda later occupied by Kachhawa rajput . Amer Fort is known for its artistic style,...

 in Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....

 was also interrupted when several onlookers were injured and the Rajasthan High Court
Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court is the High Court of the state of Rajasthan. It was established on 21 June 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949.The seat of the court is at Jodhpur...

 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. The crew finished their shoot after paying Rs. 20 lakh in damages.

Marketing

The trailer of Veer was released on 27 November 2009 at the screening of Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...

's De Dana Dan
De Dana Dan
De Dana Dan is a 2009 Hindi comedy film directed by Priyadarshan. The story is a partial adaptation of Priyadarshan's own Malayalam film Vettam. This film is also inspired by the 2000 Hollywood comedy flick Screwed. The film has a huge star cast which includes Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Katrina...

. 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.

Critical reception

The movie was generally panned by critics. Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....

 criticized the writing and direction of the movie, describing it as a colossal disappointment. Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and entertainment reporter for CNN-IBN. Masand started his career as an entertainment correspondent at the young age of 16...

 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. Gaurav Malani praised the performance of Salman Khan, while terming the story as average. 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." 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."

Among U.S. critics, Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....

 of Film Journal International
Film Journal International
Film Journal International is a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It is a sister publication of Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals....

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
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....

than A Passage to India
A Passage to India
A Passage to India is a novel by E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time...

.

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. As of 4 March 2010, the film grossed 48,000,000 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.

Criticism

The Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 youth organisation Karni Sena
Kalyan Singh Kalvi
Kalyan Singh Kalvi was a politician from the Indian state of Rajasthan. He hailed from a small village Kalvi in Nagaur District of Rajasthan. He was the cabinet minister in government of India in 1991 with energy portfolio. He died soon after. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 1989 from Barmer Lok...

 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.

Awards and nominations

2011 Zee Cine Awards
Zee Cine Awards
The Zee Cine Awards or "ZCA" for short is an awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. It was first held in 1998 in Mumbai. Since then, it has gained substantial popularity as a notable awards ceremony to the Indian population as well as to the viewers of Zee Network.In 2004, the ZCA went...

  • Nominated - Best Female Debut - Zarine Khan

Soundtrack

The film's music was released on 17 December 2009. The film's songs are composed by Sajid
Sajid (music director)
Sajid Ali is a Hindi music composer and director who works for Bollywood films. With his brother Wajid Ali, he forms the musical duo known as Sajid-Wajid...

-Wajid
Wajid
Wajid is a town and district in the Bakool region of Somalia. Wajid town is located approximately north west of the national capital, Mogadishu, south west of the district capital, Xuddur, and south east of the Somalia-Ethiopia border....

 and the lyrics are written by Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar.

The music received generally positive reviews from critics with Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....

 giving it an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5. The songs, Surili Akhiyon Wale, Salaam Aaya and Taali received special praise.
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