There's none of the grandeur, the spectacle, the detailing in the costumes and set designs, and of course, the abiding entertainment value and respect we accord to such masterpieces as Mughal-e-Azam, or even the earlier black-and-white movies such as Pukar and Sikandar.
To put it politely, Veer — an attempt to fashion a battle epic along the lines of Hollywood's Taras Bulba, Braveheart, The Patriot and Gladiator — is a disaster. It is likely to have a nasty effect on the market equity of Salman Khan who, believe it or not, is even credited with writing the "story" of this expensively-mounted opus. He grabs this credit even though the bulk of the narrative material can be sourced to the vintage Yul Brynner-Tony Curtis spectacular Taras Bulba.
Obviously, story writing is just a matter of heisting ideas from Hollywood. On another note, lately the couldn't-care-less Karan Johar gifted himself the story-writing credit for Kurbaan, which was so obviously 'inspired' by the terrorist thriller Arlington Road.
Be that as it may, in Veer, Salman Khan was sought to be showcased as India's answer to Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson. The 40ish actor, alas, banked far too much on his brawn than on his brain. Result: an emotionally-dead performance as a warrior tribesman who seeks vendetta against a horde of adversaries, ranging from the gora sahibs of the British Raj and an unintentionally funny Jackie Shroff as a monarch with a steel-claw hand (taken from villain Ernst Blofeld of the James Bond movies, but never mind) to an enormous European wrestler who goes "grrrr grrrrr", as if he were a factory machine gone out of order.
Despite the extravagant amounts of rupees spent on the project directed by Anil Sharma, the battlefront scenes as well as castle interiors looked ultra-tacky. By comparison, even the glued-together studio sets of Jodhaa Akbar look monumental. And although Sharma has belted out the record-breaking hit Gadar and subsequently brought Dharmendra and his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol together in Apne, he is totally at choppy sea. He appears to be clueless about navigating Veer, which could perhaps be because of the reported differences which erupted between him and Salman Khan during the filming on locations in Rajasthan and in the UK.
Some sections in the movie trade believe that director Sharma was at fault entirely. There was no screenplay for Veer and he worked in fits and starts. Another section argues that Salman Khan interfered at every phase of the project, to the extent of casting his brother Sohail Khan as his sidekick. Oh well.
In addition, Salman Khan is believed to have 'discovered' his Veer heroine — Zarine Khan, who has a vague resemblance to his steady (some say unsteady) girlfriend Katrina Kaif.
Before this, the actor had sought to promote an ingnue college girl Sneha Ullal, a lookalike of Aishwarya Rai via the film Lucky... No Time for Love, a luckless gambit at best. Zarine, the Katrina Kaif clone, has turned out to be pure teakwood and eye-unfriendly chubby to boot. Sad. Because she is unlikely to grab any prestigious projects in the near or distant future. Just like Sneha Ullal who dithered around in B and C grade movies before being consigned ?to anonymity.
Interestingly, in the manner of the Raj Kapoor-Dilip Kumar-Dev Anand triumvirate in the 1950s and '60s, the three Khans — Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman — have dominated the Bollywood scene for the last two decades. Of them, Aamir has been the super-survivor with his instinct of selecting projects of invaluable substance: Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots. Shah Rukh hasn't been infallible, his career's grid depends considerably on the soon-to-be-released My Name is Khan.
As for Salman, he did knock out the successful Wanted last year but bit dirt with the excruciatingly tiresome Main aur Mrs Khanna, and now, the ill-conceived-and-executed Veer. There's no gainsaying that Salman has to reinvent his career pronto.
In fact, 2010 may well witness the ascent of Hrithik Roshan in his home-production, the Anurag Basu-directed Kites (the reservation here is that it has taken eons to complete and is also rumoured to bear similarities to Woody Allen's Matchpoint).
Next, in the much-celebrated Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish, Hrithik enacts a physically challenged character with an euthanasia wish. Let's hope it just doesn't remind us far too much of Hollywood's Whose Life is it Anyway? Such niggling doubts aside, the two films are the top conversation points for the year already.
And then there's Ranbir Kapoor, smart and steady. Even senior actors — Nana Patekar and Ajay Devgan — who have worked with him in Prakash Jha's politically allegory Rajneeti, have gone on ?record to state that the RK ?scion has delivered a scene-stealing performance.
Which is to say that none of the Khans (except Aamir who has a strong lead) can rest any longer on their laurels. The rules are waiting to be rewritten... the audience no longer wants to thumb up lustreless stuff like Veer.
As for Shah Rukh Khan's next, it had better justify its catchline, My Name is Khan... and I am not a Terrorist.
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