VEER ZAARA

VEER ZAARA

·        Veer-Zaara

Veer-Zaara (Hindi pronunciation: [ʋiːr zaːraː]) can be a 2004 Indian romantic drama film directed and co-produced by Yash Chopra along side his son Aditya Chopra. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta as the eponymous star-crossed lovers; Veer is an Indian Air Force pilot and Zaara is a Pakistani woman hailing from a rich political family of Lahore. When Veer learns Zaara loves him, he quits his job to go to Pakistan, where he is imprisoned on false charges. Years later, a young Pakistani lawyer played by Rani Mukerji finds Veer in prison and upon listening to his story, tries to free him. Veer-Zaara has Divya Dutta, Manoj Bajpayee, Akhilendra Mishra and Anupam Kher play supporting roles, with a special appearance from Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini.

Chopra wanted to make his return to cinema after seven years; he was dissatisfied with the scripts he received. Aditya then narrated a number of scenes of a story he had written, which interested Chopra and prompted him to direct it. Chopra supposed the film to be a tribute to Punjab; it absolutely was to be titled Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum. Set in India and Asian nation, principal photography took place in Punjab and various locations in Mumbai; parts of the film were also shot in Pakistan. The audio recording album, based on old compositions by Madan Mohan with lyrics by Javed Akhtar, was the highest-selling album of the year in India.

The film was released on 12 November 2004 during the Diwali festival, Veer-Zaara earned over ₹976.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of the year in both India and overseas territories. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the story, dialogues, performances and sensitive portrayal of India-Pakistan relations. It was represented by analysts as having themes concerning a shared Punjabi culture, doctrine and feminism, among others.

·        Plot

In 2004, the govt of Asian nation decides to review unresolved cases concerning Indian prisoners as a goodwill gesture. Saamiya Siddiqui, an aspiring Pakistani lawyer, is given prisoner 786's defense as her first case, who has not spoken to anyone for 22 years, always holding an anklet in his hand. After addressing him as Veer Pratap Singh–the name he identifies with–Veer exposes to Saamiya and narrates his story.

Zaara Haayat Khan is an independent, carefree, and sprightly young Pakistani girl whose family is of political background and well known in Lahore. Before dying, her Sikh governess (Bebe) asks Zaara to scatter her ashes in the Sutlej river among her ancestors, as her final wish. Zaara leaves without informing anyone. While traveling to India, her bus meets with an accident, causing it to fall into a gorge. Veer, an Indian Air Force pilot, rescues her and with his help, she completes Bebe's final rites. Veer convinces Zaara to come with him to his village to pay each day along on account of Lohri. Zaara meets Veer's uncle Choudhary Sumer Singh and his auntie Saraswati Kaur. With his uncle telling Veer that he has seen Zaara turning into Veer's married woman in an exceedingly dream, Veer realises he is falling in love with Zaara.

·        Production

·        Development

Yash Chopra was thanks to come to directive when seven years since Dil To Pagal Hai (1997).[2] After his son Aditya completed filming for Mohabbatein (2000), they started to look for a newscript for Chopra's come as a director. None of the new scripts excited Chopra; he expressed his disdain at the new trend of the films of the time, stating, "I was tired of television promos. All the semi-clad ladies look a similar." Chopra stated he was as nervous of his return as he was while directing his debut Dhool Ka Phool (1959). He then finalized another script and started casting for roles.[3] Aditya then provided a narration of a few scenes of a newscript, but conveyed that he would be unable to direct it. Chopra was interested and started to figure on the new project.[3]

According to Aditya, the story of Veer-Zaara was written as a medium for his father to return to his Punjabi roots. Chopra was born in Lahore, Punjab (present-day Pakistan) and later moved with his family to Jalandhar when he was young. He travelled to Bombay in 1951, when he was introduced to the film industry.[4] Speaking about the film's theme, Chopra said, "Veer-Zaara is a humble tribute to my home in Punjab. It is my tribute to the identity of individuals on each side of the border."[3] In preparation, Chopra watched videos of Pakistani marriages and consulted Nasreen Rehman, a professor of Cambridge University for the film's portrayal of Pakistani culture, their courts and dialects.[5]

·        Analysis

In her book Violent Belongings: Partition, Gender and National Culture in Postcolonial India, Kavita Daiya, associate professor of English at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences feels that Zaara represents secularism in Pakistan.[28] She refers to the encounter between Zaara and Choudhary Sumer Singh, where Zaara persuades Singh to promote women's education as an instance of the theme.[28] Daiya notes that nobody faces bad blood by being either Indian or Pakistani within the film.[28] Meenakshi Bharat and Nirmal Kumar, authors of the book Filming the Line of Control: The Indo–Pak Relationship through the medium Lens, concur with Daiya and feels this shows maturity on Chopra's half, UN agency ignores the problem of Jammu and Kashmir and was able to "overcome the phobic disorder of Pakistan" typically gift in Indian films.[29] They compare it to Chopra's earlier films, wherever "hate-filled encounters" ar usually avoided.[29] Prince Philip Lutgendorf agrees and conjointly notes the influence of Sufi tradition, where Veer's ultimate reward is union with Allah, much like a Sufi pir.[30] Kush Varia, author of the book Bollywood: Gods, Glamour, and Gossip, whilst agreeing with Bharat and Kumar about Chopra, notes that the lovers are reunited as compared to Chopra's earlier romances, where they remain separated.