STARRING

Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Zarine Khan, Mithun Chakravorthy, Jackie Shroff, Lisa Lazarus, Neena Gupta, Vinay Apte, Bharat Dhabolkar, Shabaaz Khan, Rajesh Vivek, Yogesh Suri, Ashok Samarth, Tim Laurence, William Chubb, Gita Soto and Aryan Vaid.


DIRECTION

Anil Sharma

STORY

The plot of the flick revolves around the bravery of Pindari warrior Veer (Salman Khan) and his love for Princess Yashodhara(Zarine Khan) and his duty to save the honor of his clan and  country from the British rulers. The proud Veer is torn between the love of his beau and love for his motherland.

At the time, British rulers were employing the infamous doctrine of divide and rule with Indian princess and rulers. Only the Pindaris, who were under their chief Prithvi Singh (Mithun Chakravorthy), were out of British Empire and refusing to surrender their freedom.

The British rulers took the help of Madhavgarh’s ruler (played by Jackie Shroff) to subdue Pindaris. The raja betrayed Pindaris and helped British in uprooting the brave tribesmen from their homeland. Now, they become a people without any permanent land of their own.

Pindaris and Madhavgarh were sworn enemies of each other without realizing the fact that Veer, who was son of Prithvi Singh (Pindari Chief) was in love with Princess Yashodhara, daughter of Madhavgarh’s King.

On the other hand, there was Punya (Sohail Khan) who was younger brother of Veer, and would accompany him like a shadow to every place. His nature was fun- filled but he was fierce in war.

There comes a time when Veer has to make a choice between his love for beau Princess Yashodhara  and his own people and country. What is chosen by Veer and what happens after that is revealed in the remaining part of the film.




PERFORMANCE

Salman Khan, who plays the character of a Pindari warrior, looks terrific in the film. His star power makes the character larger than life but lack of a solid script shows on his performance. The sequence in a London college where he murders several people, and even manages to come to India with his wounded brother Soahil Khan, seems too much even from the angle of cinematic liberty.

In fact, Salman Khan’s London trip seems to be starting point of the downward path for the flick. Just recall him meeting Zarine Khan within minutes and then enrolling in the same college where she studies. The sequence lacks passion even from Macho Khan side, not to talk of Zarine Khan.

However, there is no denying the fact that Salman Khan has excelled in action sequences, which are on a grand scale and will certainly rewrite its standard afresh. But Salman Khan’s role in climax sequence seems somewhat overstretched. It could have been more effective if made a little crisper after using editorial scissors.

Zarine Khan, the gorgeous babe who looks like Katrina Kaif, has a long way to go in the field of acting. In fact, the lady does very little other than looking pretty and showing the same expression through grief and fun.

It must be admitted that Zarine Khan’s face may be like that of Katrina Kaif but she will have to work very hard to reach Katrina’s standards, as was shown by Kat in ‘New York’.

Old war horse Mithun Chakravorthy does better in his role of the Pindari chief and Salman Khan’s father. Mithun’s big physique suits for the character of Pindari chief and he takes full advantage of that.

Jackie Shroff, who plays the treacherous King of Madhavgarh, comes out with a winning performance. In fact, our Jaggudada seems to be enjoying this negative streak and has done his bit efficiently.

Sohail Khan, who plays Salman Khan’s brother Punya, does not add anything to the attraction of movie. Aryan Vaid and Puru Rajkumar have minuscule role and do not get any scope to perform in the film.

English actors went about their role in a mechanical way. Neena Gupta is at her usual best. Others provide able support to the main cast of the flick.

The direction of Anil Sharma falls below his super duper hit flick ‘Gadar-Ek Prem Katha’. In fact, the director has miserably failed to lift the film from its mediocrity despite of having the best stars and a big budget to mount his extravaganza.

The fact of the matter is that the writers have badly let down the project and director. While first hour of the flick is interesting, second hour starts boring the audiences and they are off to washroom for some relief from this oppressive flick.

The music by Sajid-Wajid is good and one track ‘surily ankhiyo wali’ is already a hit with the audiences. The background music by Monty helps in lifting the mood of the flick. The action sequences of Tinu Verma are superb and worth watching. The cinematography by Gopal Shah is befitting of a flick of this magnitude. Other production values are also good.


STARDUST VERDICT

Salman Khan’s action sequences are terrific and will be loved by the audiences. But the second half does not offer much due to poor writing which seems to have lost its steam after the interval. The film has grandeur, magnificence but lacks soul. However, Salman Khan’s star power and 26th January (holiday) may help the flick to remain afloat at the box office.