Veer

Veer
India (Bollywood)
2010
Starring:  Salman Khan, Zarine Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, and Jackie Shroff

As the poster says, it Veer is the epic love story of a warrior. The movie boasts some decent sweeping visual scenes as well as a multicultural tale.  Veer is a story of honor, betrayal, and love against the backdrop of a historically epic time in India.

Veer is a Pindari warrior whose father and tribe are betrayed by the British and Madhavgarh's King.  Fate one day brings Veer and his warriors to rob a train that will change the course of history for the Pindari.

Veer has extremely mixed reviews on all fronts, still I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Some say the final scenes aren't necessary, but I find some cosmic peace in the ending; others say the battles were unnecessary, I'm not sure how else one would portray this warrior without them; and still others yet say it was cheesy, every Bollywood romance has a huge element of that.  All in all I'd watch it again.  I hope Netflix soon brings it to the USA masses, I'd like to see Zarine Khan boosted into stardom and this first movie of hers referenced as one of her greats in years to come.

Quote: This story belongs to fearless the Pindari whose saga of bravery was not considered as a part of history by the British. But, they could not stop them from becoming a legend.

"What is the Greatest Thing for a Pindari?" - "Courage"
"And greater than courage?" - "Promise"
"And greater than a promise?" . . .

Heer Ranjha

Heer Ranjha:  A True Love Story
Punjab
2009
Starring:  Neeru Bajwa & Gurchet Chitrakar

Heer Ranjha is a true love story from Punjab.  The story is said to be over 300 years old.  Heer and Ranjha have a mausoleum shrine in Jhang that is visited by lovers to this day.  Every year to date in this town there is a festival thrown in their honor.

This movie follows the story of this couple dubbed the Romeo and Juliet of the east whose story of love, dedication, pain, and loss has spanned hundreds of years.  The legend of these lovers has only grown in recent years; their story epitomizes what every hopeless romantic dreams regardless of the centuries that have passed.

I do not remember the dance sequences in this movie because they were all overshadowed by the depth of the story.  The cinematography in this movie wasn't super spectacular.  I think the movie was made to carry a small anti-drug message as well; it is the first Bollywood movie that I have seen where they mentioned marijuana and opium then portrayed those who smoked it as slow and dimwitted.  All in all for the story alone this movie is a must see.  Again Bollywood has brought us an epic love story that will make your heart yearn and tears fall; this movie is well worth its time.

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