If you are looking for entertainment but aren't sure if you want to settle on a comedy, a musical, a period film, a mystery, some romance, some action, something the kids would like, or a nature documentary, look no further than Dharam-Veer. In this forest of interesting costumes, characters, plot twists, stunts and dialog, anyone hunting for a dull moment will come back to town empty handed! This isn't the film you go into taking seriously, however, it is entirely possible to do so granted the sincerity with which it was made.
The setting is all at once an Ancient Roman/Medieval/Rococo period containing knights in armor, stage coaches, ships with cannons, zippers, laz-y-boy living room sets, and huge, jeweled clip-on earrings adorning the ears of the men. The surrounding events include everything from fencing to baby-carrying falcons to tiger wrestling to seafaring gypsies. But in spite of such a diverse and higher than average array of elements, it does not have LITERALLY everything. Due to the "historical" nature there aren't any motorized vehicles to be found, none of the English-mixed-in Bollyspeak, and in the opinion of one viewer "it could have used a disco ball."
Our songs include an anthem of bromance and friendship between the heroes Dharam and Veer as they ride their horses across field and stream, make breakfast by the creek, and tease a passing princess. Next is a colorful arena-filling gypsy spectacular rife with sweeping leaping moves by a Veer in disguise, as one of our heroines kicks in the sand and some midgets poke a caged captive to the beat. Dharam interrupts a vain princess' bath to carry her out to the woods and we get what was probably the world's first bondage-fetish bollywood number. Later, the Gypsies are at it again, this time in a camp while the heroines disguise themselves to dance and jingle amongst the flickering torches and sparkling rainbow tambourines while clueless villains look on.
With all this wacky stuff to look at, some things would be needed to keep the film from being just an empty, hyper spectacle. Dharam-Veer has those things. The first is the compelling dialog written by Khader Khan. For example, when Dharam is offered a set of armor during a jousting competition he says "an iron body like mine has no need for such jewelry!" and when Prince Veer dramatically enters a room by crashing through a glass window, he gives a little speech to the villain about why he just did so! Also preventing emptiness is the distinctness of all the characters, and even the most minor of them are lovable in a way that would inspire you to collect action figures and wear catchphrase t-shirts if such things had ever been made.
Only after viewing Dharam-Veer multiple times and with various people have I developed a few criticisms to display in the course of this description. The first is Dharam's short tunic outfits that make no rare item of Dharmendra Deol's manly thighs. Constantly exposed by variations of a short, skirt-like garb, his legs have an unrelenting screen presence which could unnerve certain members of the audience. The second would be the matter of some rather crude special effects in the form of animations, dummies and showing things happening in the reverse. These moments are seemingly unnecessary and elevates the kitch factor of the entire venture to a point of mild embarrassment. There is also the matter of deficiency of songs and situations for the second pair of this feature's remarkable "double romance". However, it seems as if these required scenes may have been cut for the sake of duration and it presents a stellar opportunity for you to spend some time writing fan fiction afterward.
This is a great movie to watch alongside friends and family and a must own for any Bollywood fan or collector of unusual films. In regard to DVDs I'd recommend the Shemaroo release as some people have reported sound quality problems with others.
