Thrilling adventure yarn. Review on Dharam Veer

I am suprised not more people have commented on this superb series. Like many fans of Rajat Tokas and Mugdha Chapeka and their fellows from Prithviraj Chauhan, their unneccessary departure from PRC was keenly felt. They were all excellent and credible actors and the series has not been the same since. However in this fantasy period piece they are able to develop in ways that the historically factual PRC prevented. Mugdha's character Shera, for example is not a whimpering spoilt princess but a strong and able fighter for a less than saintly band of brigands. Rajat's character Veer has two sides as he is not the Prince he has been brought up to be and his character strongly favours that of his murdered father. Unlike the young Prithvi who had kingship and responsibilities forced on him while around 13 to 14 years old, Veer can enjoy being a mischevious and soppy teenager - up to a point. The costumes are brilliant, colourful and beautifully designed and made. The story starts dramatically pre- Dharam and Veer, setting the scene for the cruel royalty and downtrodden slaves which travels through the series. It has a wide variety of moods, and some remarkable twists. It swings from lighthearted and funny to dramatic, tearjerking and very, very sad. My only real complaint is that even though it is now happily showing in the UK, there are no English subtitles, and for someone like me who understands only a little Hindi, I know I am missing quite a few interesting pieces of dialogue. Subtitles would help me learn more Hindi, too.

I would recommend this series highly as it is a far cry from the boring rich modern families soaps and allows the better development of characters and actors alike. Men have long hair, loads of jewellery including earrings, amazing outfits and carry swords and daggers which they use with aplomb. My only other gripe would be the choice of music occasionally - O Come all Ye Faithful and Jingle Bells seems a bit odd in an Indian  period piece such as this, but even PRC does some strange things like this and most of the other music more than makes up for it. Of course some of the parts of the story are a bit wobbly, but given that they lost their 6 weeks edge when Rajat was injured and in hospital for 3 weeks, meaning they are filming just a few days ahead of airing, one just has to suspend disbelief and go with the flow.

Dharam Veer is a great tale - ostensibly of two cousins brought up as brothers. Their true heritage differs and this is reflected in their attitudes to situations. Veer is watched by his true mother and sister from the slave village- his adopted mother has to keep his origins secret as all the other babies his age were murdered due to a prophecy stating that one would overthrow the throne. Dharam is the son of the king who believes in the status quo and loyalty to his father. They have another cousin Agni, whose father is the older brother of the king. These two plot against DV as Agni' father expected to get the throne and he didn't, so now he wants if for his son. There is much, much more than this to the story. Do try and watch it, you will find it really worthwhile. It is on every weekday with a catchup at weekends.