The Pindari warrior Veer [Salman Khan] plots to overthrow British rule in Madhavgarh, while falling in love with princess Yashodhara [Zarine Khan], daughter of the king [Jackie Shroff] who as a prince years before had betrayed the Pindari, leading to a massacre of 4,500 men.

See also

* Bollywood films of 2010

Production

The story was written by Salman Khan twenty years ago, who described it as his dream project. At that time, Khan planned to direct the film himself and cast Sanjay Dutt in the lead role. Veer is also partly based on the Russian novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol. 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 and the Agricultural College in Pune, but due to the swine flue outbreak the locations were moved to Mumbai. Other location shooting took place in Jaipur and Bikaner. Location shooting at Amber Fort in Jaipur was also interrupted when several onlookers were injured and the Rajasthan High Court 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 structures 500-year-old roof to collapse. The crew finished their shoot after paying Rs. 20 lakh in damages.

Soundtrack

The films music was released on 17 December 2009. The films songs are composed by Sajid-Wajid and the lyrics are written by Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar. The music received generally positive reviews from critics with Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama giving it an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5. The songs, Surili Akhiyon Wale, Salaam Aaya and Taali received special praise.

Song	Singer[s]	Duration
"Meherbaniyan"	Sonu Nigam	4:29
"Taali"	Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Wajid, Neuman Pinto	6:10
"Surili Akiyon Wale"	Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Suzanne DMello	5:31
"Kanha [Thumari]"	Rekha Bhardwaj, Sharib Sabri, Toshi Sabri, Shabaab Sabri	4:36
"Taali [solo]"	Sukhwinder Singh	6:01
"Surili Akiyon Wale"	Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suzanne DMello	5:23
"Salaam Aaya"	Roop Kumar Rathod, Shreya Ghoshal	4:45
"Spirit Of Veer"	Instrumental	0:58

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 48,00,00,000. It was declared an average performer at the box office.

Critical reception

= The movie was generally panned by critics. Taran Adarsh criticized the writing and direction of the movie, describing it as a colossal disappointment. Rajeev Masand 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 youll 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 Khans 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 of Film Journal International 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 films 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 thats more Xena: Warrior Princess than A Passage to India.

Marketing

The trailer of Veer was released on 27 November 2009 at the screening of Priyadarshans De Dana Dan. 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.

Criticism

The Rajput youth organisation Karni Sena 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.

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 films screenings.