Desi movie, Scottish play

Veeram (2017) isn't my first Indian MacBeth, but while Maqbool was a gritty tale of love and murder in the contemporary Mumbai underworld, Veeram is aiming for epic, with big battles, stunning scenery, and a storyline which mixes Shakespeare with traditional ballads.

Chandu (Kunal Kapoor) is a warrior, a master of the martial art of Kalaripayattu, and member of a clan of duelists.  While returning home from a successful duel, Chandu and his friend Kelu (sorry, Kelu, but the internet won't tell me who plays you) wander into a cave, where they encounter a sorceress and her naked medium.  The medium makes the expected predictions; Chandu will become the lieutenant to the clan chieftain, and then chieftain himself, while Kelu's son will be chief after him.

The pair laugh off the spooky naked prophecy and continue their journey home. When they get there, they learn that Chandu has been promoted to be the lieutenant to the current chieftain, Aromal (Shivajith Padmanabhan).  Aromal is a bit apprehensive, since he personally prevented Chandu's marriage to the lovely Unniyarcha (Himarsha Venkatsamy), but everyone assures him that it will be fine, since Chandu is such an upright and honorable man.

Everything is not fine.  Chandu is suddenly filled with ambition.  Unniyarcha is suddenly very interested in Chandu, despite already having a husband, but Kuttimani (Divanaa Thackur) manages to win his heart, then Lady MacBeths him into sabotaging Aromal's weapon for an upcoming duel.  And when that doesn't work, the pair tale matters into their own hands, everything takes a turn for the decidedly tragic.

This is post-Baahubali MacBeth; the budget is lower, but the scale is still suitably epic.  The fight scenes are lovingly choreographed and make great use of the urumi, my personal favorite impractical melee weapon.  The cinematography and set design is even more impressive, making stunning use of color and scale.  And the

If the movie has a weakness, it's the dialogue.  Like many Indian movies, Veeram was shot in multiple languages.  I watched the English version, and while some of the lines were lifted directly from Shakespeare, much of the dialogue sounds like a modern translation aimed at students, replacing the original poetry with something more . . . prosaic.

Still, while the dialogue is a bit mundane at times, nothing else in the movie is.  This is tragedy on a grand scale, like Baahubali's art-house cousin.