Veer-Zaara (2004)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Yash Chopra

Writers:

Aditya Chopra (dialogue)
Aditya Chopra (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 November 2004 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A Love Legend

Plot:

The story of the love between Veer Pratap Singh, an Indian, and Zaara Hayaat Khan, a Pakistani...a love so great it knows no boundaries...

Plot Keywords:

Pakistan | Love | Rescue | Stranded | Prison

Awards:

20 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

Shahrukh Khan	...	Veer Pratap Singh
Preity Zinta	...	Zaara Hayaat Khan
Rani Mukherjee	...	Saamiya Siddiqui (as Rani Mukerji)
Kiron Kher	...	Mariam Hayaat Khan (as Kirron Kher)
Divya Dutta	...	Shabbo
Boman Irani	...	Jahangir Hayaat Khan
Anupam Kher	...	Zakir Ahmed
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Chaudhary Sumer Singh (Special Appearance)
Hema Malini	...	Maati (Special Appearance)
Manoj Bajpai	...	Razaa Shirazi (Special Appearance)
Zohra Sehgal	...	Bebe
S.M. Zaheer
Tom Alter
Akhilendra Mishra	...	Jailor
Arun Bali

Also Known As:

Veer Zaara (India: Hindi title) (alternative spelling)
Yash Chopra's Untitled Film (India: English title) (working title)
Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara (India: English title) (complete title)

Runtime:

192 min

Country:

India

Language:

Urdu | Hindi | Punjabi

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:PG | India:U | UK:U | Singapore:PG

Company:

Yash Raj Films

Trivia:

The character of Saamiya Siddiqui is based on Pakistani human rights activist and well-known lawyer Asma Jehangir.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: One early morning / Lifting the dark blanket of the night / From its pillow of mountain peak / The sun lifted its head / And saw... / The valley's heart is filled with the season of love / And the branches of memories have sprouted / Innumerable blossoms of moments past / That begin to scent the air...

Soundtrack:

Yeh Hum Aa Gaye Hain Kahaan

Bollywood Entertainment

"Veer-Zaara" was shown as part of an international film series at my local public library. It is the first Bollywood musical I have ever seen, and as such, I lack the critical perspective necessary to make an informed judgement about it. However, I did rate "Veer-Zaara" seven out of ten, because I found it consistently entertaining, and often entirely delightful. I was never once bored - in spite of its three hour plus running time. In order to appreciate any form of musical drama, it's necessary to "surrender" to theatrical artifice, and seen in that light, "Veer-Zaara" is no more illogical or "unrealistic" than a classic Vincent Minnelli Musical or a "serious" Verdi opera. I was also very intrigued at the way that the plot of the film crossed several genres and combined a number of classic story-telling archetypes: "the star-crossed lovers," "the village pastorale," "the saga of family honor," "the courtroom drama," etc.

Watching this film I think I learned a lot about modern Indian culture. Although at times the sentimentality in "Veer-Zaara" is so gushing that it enters into the realm of camp, there is also much substance in the film which is entirely admirable and worthy of esteem: the honor paid to parents and elders, the independence and spirit shown by strong and intelligent women, the respect given to Law and Justice, and perhaps most importantly, the possibility of peace and reconciliation between two peoples and two nations who have been engaged in a long, bitter, and fruitless quarrel.