Salman Khan said in an interview that if Veer fails he will take responsibility, this might be the time. Here, for a change, director Anil Sharma shifts the focus from Pakistan to British rule in India without compromising his high-speed rants about motherland, honor and machismo. The film stars Salman Khan in the lead role and has one of the biggest hits of 2009 to its credit. He has also put himself in the shoes of a screenwriter with this movie and it is obvious that this movie is very close to him, but he disappoints his fans with his latest proposal.

It’s a well-known fact to moviegoers that films directed by Anil Sharma care less about accuracy of facts and historical figures, but offer plenty of entertainment where the central character defeats evil almost single-handedly (remember Sunny Deol does in Gadar Ek Prem Katha). Here’s Salman doing it to the ruler of his state who has sided with British rule to oppress the Pindari tribes.

The film revolves around colonial India in 1862 and is mainly based on the Rajputana tribe of Pindari who are tough alcoholic warriors. They are good at war and drink (that’s what the movie suggests). The film begins with the king of Madhav Garh betraying the Pindari tribe after winning a war with them, in order to appease the British. The tribes, as they wish, use revenge. The entire movie revolves around his revenge and it is in the last few scenes that the focus shifts from revenge to liberating India from British rule.

To achieve this revenge the chief of the tribe Prithvi Singh (Mithun Chakraborty) sends his two sons Veer and Punya to England to learn how the firangi mind works and can beat them at their own game. The matter is complicated by the arrival of the princess of Madhav Garh played by Zarine Khan in Veer’s life, who falls in love with the princess. Our hero Veer fights fearlessly with the amoral king, the British government and lays the foundation for the Indian independence movement.

The problem with the movie is not the lack of logic but the amount of boredom it gives the viewer. The hero takes a man’s intestine with his bare hands, engages in a strange kind of Swayamwar to win the princess, and finds himself clothed in the motherland. Such things are only boring and even more so they give a rather comical angle to the movie which is obviously not the intention of the director and screenwriter.

We have best movies in recent times about patriotism (Chak De) and epic movies (Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar). Here even the duration of the film bores the viewer. The music is fine for the movie, if not great. The filmmakers have tried to bring conviction to the project and have worked hard to make it work on screen.

The movie deserved a better script than this to back up the hard work put in by Salman Khan on virtually every scene. He has done his best to take the film to a new level, but unfortunately he has been let down with this epic. The brilliant presence of him in every scene surely deserves approval.

The film has many exaggerated scenes and dialogues that give it an unintended comedic effect. Even the appearance of the warrior Salman and the mass appeal of him might not save this movie from losing to oblivion in the near future. Watch the movie if you are a die-hard Salman Khan fan or want to see the hard work put in by him or save it for a DVD later.