Box Office Poison: Veer (2010)
Salman Khan is not an actor known for getting overly involved in his projects. Aamir and Hrithik do one film at a time, completely transforming themselves for a character; Shahrukh is deeply involved in production and promotion; Akshay is continually trying to branch out into artier films; and Salman is content to do whatever his family, friends, and fans want to see from him. Salman treats films as a job rather than an artistic outlet—for that, he has his painting and his charitable foundation. So, when word began to circulate sometime during 2006 that Salman Khan was writing a film, people were understandably curious.
The 2000s were not a kind decade to Salman. Outside of a few low-brow comedy hits (Muhjse Shaadi Karogi, No Entry, Partner, etc.) he couldn’t seem to find a formula that really clicked with audiences. Despite many sincere and emotional performances in films like Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) and Tere Naam (2003), the zeitgeist had turned in favor of the youthful, urbane, and cool. You might call it the Dil Chahta Hai decade, focused on questions of yuppie romance and incorporating more Western-style narratives into films. Was it this change in the cultural zeitgeist that inspired Salman to finally begin writing his own film? A film that would be and say all the things he wanted? Well, it’s one question I plan to ask Salman if I ever get the chance because the historical fantasy of Veer is essentially the opposite of something like contemporary romantic-comedy Hum Tum, a riotous and extremely earnest display of herogiri firmly rooted in the masala films of the 1970s and 80s.
From all accounts, the process of bringing Salman’s deeply personal work to screen was difficult. All through 2007, 2008, and 2009 reports trickled out from the sets. There was controversy over leading lady Zarine Khan, a newcomer who was said to bear a striking resemblance to Salman’s real life girlfriend Katrina Kaif. Zarine had been asked to put on weight for the role and the ‘Fat-rina’ puns flew fast and furious. Director Anil Sharma, who had previously helmed the expensive masala hits Gadar (2001) and The Hero (2003), seemed to have gotten himself in over his head. Instead of computerized special effects, Veer was going to be a real epic. Shooting crept along slowly with hundreds of horses and thousands of extras in battle gear camped on location. Part the historic Amber Fort in Jaipur where they were shooting collapsed and injured 15 people, causing longer delays in shooting. And as the film went into post-production, Salman reportedly was unhappy with certain aspects of the film and demanded changes. Just to add icing to the cake of controversy that was being baked, Salman got his buddies Sajid-Wajid, better known for their club hits, in to do the music and plenty of ink was spilled over whether the brothers would be up to the challenge of writing “period music.”
Meanwhile, as the machinery of Veer was sluggishly churning along, something unexpected happened in the fall of 2009: Salman Khan had a super hit with the deliciously fun Wanted, a remake of the Telugu hit Pokiri. An amazing and wonderful thing for Salman’s career overall probably hit the final nail in the coffin for Veer. Wanted is a real post-modern masala film made with a giant wink to the audience; nothing in the film is taken too seriously other than Salman’s pursuit of bad-assery. With Veer coming just months after Wanted, audience expectations were high—and audience expectations were for another film like Wanted. When Veer was finally released in January 2010, just weeks after Aamir Khan’s blockbuster 3 Idiots, it would have had to have been the next Sholay to cut through the hysteria and the film ultimately failed to draw in the crowds.
Veer, quite simply put, is a throwback to a time when things like “historic accuracy” and “irony” didn’t mean as much as they do today. The story begins in the 1920s. A British journalist and her father are traveling to interview a fierce Pindari leader in Rajasthan. When they ask him why he is so fierce, he answers with a flashback to the 1860s where we see a betrayal of the Pindaris, led by warrior Prithvi (a welcome Mithun Chakraborty,) by the slimy king of Madhavghar, (an also-welcome Jackie Shroff.) The king (gleefully) has 4500 Pindaris slaughtered and Prithvi, understandably angry, cuts off the king’s hand in retaliation. Prithvi returns back home and swears revenge, a revenge that will be carried out by his new baby son.
Fast forward a generous “25” years later and that baby is now Veer (Salman Khan), who enjoys raiding British trains full of loot with his brother Punya (Salman’s real life brother Sohail Khan.) It’s one of these raids that he meet a mysterious and zaftig princess (Zarine Khan) and falls in love at first sight. With the help of some helpful Christian monks, Veer and Punya are shipped off to London to study the English, with the goal of learning the ways of the enemy. These two are no wallflowers and Veer and Punya find trouble (and class warfare) at the college, making enemies of the college administration along with a pair of ritzy Indian brothers (Aryan Vaid and Puru Rajkumar). Psst... guess who their sister is!
The princess and Veer find some romance but when he finds out her true heritage (i.e. the daughter of the guy who slaughtered his people) he kills her brothers and sulks off back to Rajasthan to sort out his feelings.
As we enter the second act, the princess is crowned next in line to the throne by a golden-handed Jackie Shroff in a sequence so creepy that it made me wish that they had brought back the Filmfare Best Villain award. Veer has decided to win her over—despite the slaughter on both sides—with an elaborate ruse that involves winning trust through fighting Sohail Khan in a tiger costume and then posing as a ritzy prince of a kingdom so far away nobody has ever heard it. Also, Lisa Lazarus turns up to swan about the palace being white as the daughter to the yellow-haired Steve (William Chubb), the king’s British partner-in-crime. The simplest way to describe the rest of the act is: events transpire that lead to an epic battle featuring a shirtless Veer fighting shirtless Rhino (Dutch bodybuilder Roy Bronsgeest) for the hand of the princess. (Guess who wins!) Veer then fights his father Prithvi over the question of whether or not to fight the people of Madhavghar and then (together) they fight the British.
We end back in the 1920s with Salman Khan playing Veer’s “25” year old son.
The real Pindaris seem to have been active at the beginning of the 19th century but in Veer, historical accuracy never even enters into the equation, other than Zarine Khan’s highly publicized healthy look. Veer is about as historically accurate (and realistic) as Magadheera and almost as entertaining. Salman Khan is clearly a) an old-fashioned kind of guy and b) someone who loves his father and brother. There have been many times over the years that I’ve wanted to say, in the style of Plastic Regina George to Gretchen, “Stop trying to make Sohail happen.” But in Veer, the two brothers are having the time of their lives. Actually, everybody seems to be having a pretty good time—whether it’s Mithun doing “Pindari dancing,” Jackie Shroff chewing the scenery, or the hordes of extras grinning like crazy in the background. Veer has an infectious energy and despite the convoluted plot, I found myself drifting along accepting everything that happened next without too much concern for what had just happened before.
I’m not going to say that Veer is a good film—because it’s not—but I found it to be well worth watching and I’m deeply disappointed that I missed seeing it on the big screen because director Anil Sharma really uses all those horses and extras and landscape to make a vibrant visual palate. If ever my attention drifted from the action, there were dozens of things to catch it. The costume design is probably best described as “enthusiastic.” Colorful frocks, outrageous hats, ridiculous fur vests, wigs mimicking hair not found in nature, opera gloves, and plenty of tight trousers are all on display. And the extra time and money spent to shoot on location means plenty of gorgeous scenery, too.
Salman Khan is fully engaged in this story and he does what he does best: be a hero. His jodi with brother Sohail was really fun and if his chemistry with Zarine was a bit lacking... well, it didn’t really bother me all that much. Salman really just throws his heart into everything he does in Veer and that kind of enthusiasm is catching. Whether he is dancing or fighting or emoting or guffawing, Salman believes in it and every emotion is 100% earnest. I’ve never felt that Salman was a good actor but he is a great hero when he wants to be. In Veer he wrote for himself the kind of role that doesn’t really exist anymore in Hindi cinema: emotional, earnest, romantic, comedic, devout, and macho all rolled into one. (Well, Krrish fills this niche, too but it’s still pretty rare.) Veer isn’t cynical; Veer doesn’t care about status or hip t-shirts; Veer isn’t busy mocking Hindi film cliches; Veer doesn’t know a size zero woman from Silk Smitha; Veer respects his parents; Veer is strong enough to rip out a man’s intestines; and Veer dances despite his lack of dance skills.
Can we talk about Zarine Khan for a second? First of all, shame on every single so-called critic who mocked her weight or called her “Fat-rina”. Yes, Zarine in her debut is bigger than heroines today but she is by no means outside the range of healthy female figures. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when we police women into a single acceptable body type, everybody loses. She does a fine job with the role of the princess and I thought she looked gorgeous in both her English dresses and her princess outfits. Not too much acting was required of her but I thought she had a really nice on-screen presence and drew my eye whenever she showed up.
As for the rest, Mithun just dominated whenever he was onscreen. He seemed to having fun with playing the almighty warrior Prithvi. I hadn’t mentioned her before but Neena Gupta was really sparkling as Veer’s mother. Sohail was Sohail. The sleazy royal brothers, Aryan Vaid and Puru Rajkumar, were excellent. I can’t emphasize enough how much Puru Rajkumar’s haughty looks added to my enjoyment of various scenes. Jackie Shroff was the real stand-out, though, and his villainous performance definitely stacks up with baddies like Prakash Raaj and Pradeep Rawat.
Salim Khan allegedly had a hand in punching up the script and there are a few places where one senses a more reasoned mind amongst the chaos. In between silly Salman gags (the sort we’re all familiar with from his Twitter feed) and the Salman herogiri, you could see an effort to place greater India within the context of the British Empire. For one thing the film actually depicts African and various types of Asian students during the London portions of the film. And there are a handful of dialogues relating to the ways the corporate West still pulls strings in numerous countries around the world.
Another thread that I found really fascinating is possible that it was added in by Jackie Shroff himself. His king is really creepily interested in the princess: really he’s a love rival. During the coronation ceremony I was half convinced that he was going to try to marry her himself! That disturbing undertone really added some zest to the events in the second half.
At a certain point in the film it dawned on me that Salman probably identifies more with the older style of films that Mithun was making back in the day than with the youngistan films coming out now. And maybe that’s one of the reasons he has been able to tap into something that really resonates with large sections of the Bollywood audience, who are perhaps tired of inward looking urban middle-class youths concerned only with romance and “edgy” experimental films that involve one actor or actress playing numerous roles. So, why didn’t audiences turn up for Veer?
Timing certainly played a part of it. Coming so soon after 3 Idiots, any film would have had to be a cinematic masterpiece to make a favorable impression in comparison and Veer, ambitious as it is, is no masterpiece. And maybe Veer was just too trapped in the past for mainstream audiences, who have come to enjoy a bit of “cool” and “meta” in their entertainment. Veer was just too much, too long, too many songs, and too much bling.
But for me, it was just right. Maybe it wasn’t the right film at the right time but I don’t think Veer deserves the scorn heaped upon it.
(Originally posted June 20, 2011)