Salman
Khan
has
first
gone
to
his
friend
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
to
direct
Taras
Bulba.
When
Sanjay
declined
Salman
bitterly
vowed
to
make
the
same
story
with
another
director,
and
make
it
as
an
epic
comparable
with
Sanjay"s
vision.
Anil
Sharma
was
chosen
because
of
Gadar
:
Ek
Prem
Katha.
“But
please
don"t
expect
Gadar
in
Veer.
Gadar
was
far
more
dramatic
and
emotional.
Veer
is
targeted
more
at
today"s
younger
audiences," warns
the
director.
Stories
about
differences
between
Salman
Khan
and
his
director
Anil
Sharma
during
the
making
of
Veer
abound.
Speaking
on
the
issue
for
the
first
time
Anil
Sharma
admits
there
were
differences.
“Salman
was
not
just
the
main
actor
in
Veer
he
was
also
the
writer.
We
had
lot
of
difference
of
opinion.
The
way
he
narrated
the
story
and
the
way
I
perceived
it
as
a
director
were
different.
Moreover
I
brought
in
other
writers
Shailesh
Verma,
Shaktimaan
(who
wrote
my
Gadar)
and
Krishna
Raghav.
Raghav
did
all
the
research.
So
Salman"s
story
has
been
interpreted
in
the
way
I
thought
right.
In
the
original
story
Taras
Balba."
Salman
insisted
that
Anil
Sharma
watch
his
source
of
inspiration
the
Yul-Brynner-Tony
Curtis
1962
film
Taras
Bulba.
“But
we
couldn"t
get
a
single
print
of
the
film.
So
I
had
to
make
do
with
the
images
that
I
had
in
my
mind
from
childhood.
They
made
the
film
in
Russia
last
year.
I
saw
that
version.
Taras
Bulba
was
the
story
of
the
father
Yul
Brynner,
played
by
Mithun
Chakraborty
in
my
film.
Veer
is
not
the
father"s
story.
It"s
the
son
Salman"s
story.
And
we
had
to
relocate
the
entire
story
from
16th
century
Russia
to
Colonial
India."
While
Salman
Khan
has
become
the
face
of
Veer,
the
film"s
director
Anil
Sharma
has
taken
a
backseat
so
far.
Speaking
up
finally
he
says,
“For
three
years
now
all
kinds
of
things
have
been
said
and
written
about
Veer
and
my
relationship
with
the
project
and
actors.
The
truth
is,
we
were
making
a
very
difficult
film.
And
there
were
bound
to
be
creative
differences.
But
we
sorted
it
out."
Anil
admits
he
never
wanted
Salman"s
favourite
composers
Sajid
-Wajid
to
do
the
music
of
Veer.
“I
had
heard
his
tunes
in
his
earlier
films
and
I
was
sure
Sajid
-Wajid
wasn"t
the
right
person
for
a
period
drama
like
Veer.
I
met
them
reluctantly
and
was
surprised
by
their
understanding
of
Hindustani
music.
We
worked
really
well
together.
They
were
delighted
to
be
told
to
compose
a
thumri
or
a
bandish
for
the
first
time.
And
the
fact
that
I
could
convince
Gulzar
Saab
to
work
with
Sajid-Wajid
was
a
stroke
of
luck."
Says
Anil
Sharma,
“We"ve
reduced
the
length
to
approximately
2
hours
45
minutes.
Only
one
15-second
action
scene
was
removed
by
the
censors.
We
had
actually
retained
longer
versions
of
the
action
sequences
than
we
needed
because
the
censors
always
shorten
action
scenes.
To
our
surprise
they
didn"t
touch
anything!"