Veer-Zaara (2004)

Veer-Zaara is a saga of love, separation, courage and sacrifice. A love story that is an inspiration and will remain a legend forever.

Director:

Yash Chopra

Writers:

Aditya Chopra (dialogue), Aditya Chopra (screenplay)

Stars:

Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji

Top Rated Indian Movies #164 | 27 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shah Rukh Khan	...	Veer Pratap Singh
Preity Zinta	...	Zaara Hayaat Khan
Rani Mukerji	...	Saamiya Siddiqui
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 Bajpayee	...	Razaa Shirazi (Special Appearance) (as Manoj Bajpai)
Zohra Sehgal	...	Bebe
S.M. Zaheer
Tom Alter
Akhilendra Mishra	...	Jailor
Arun Bali

Storyline

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) is a rescue pilot with the Indian Air Force. In the line of duty he comes across a stranded Zaara (Preity Zinta) - a girl from Pakistan who has come to India to fulfill her surrogate mothers dying wish. Veer saves her life and his life is never the same again. Twenty two years later Saamia Siddiqui (Rani Mukerji), a Pakistani human rights lawyer on her first case, finds herself face to face with an ageing Veer Pratap Singh. He has languished in a Pakistan jail cell for 22 years and has not spoken to anyone all these years. And no one knows why. Her mission is to discover the truth about Veer and see to it that justice is served. VEER-ZAARA is a saga of love, separation, courage and sacrifice. A love that is divine, a love that is whole-hearted, a love that is completely consuming, a love that grows with separation and deepens with sacrifice. A love that is an inspiration - and will remain a legend forever.

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Plot Keywords:

pakistan | stranded | rescue | prison | fair | 

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Taglines:

A Love Legend

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Anupam Kher stars with his wife Kiron Kher in this film, although they don't share the same frame.

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Goofs

When Saamiya first asks Veer to talk about his life, her hair fringe is mostly covering the side of her face. In the next shot when Veer looks at her, her hair is tucked neatly to the side.

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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. / Unspoken, unheard yearnings / Half asleep, half awake / Look out sleepily at life / As it flows in wave upon wave / Every moment new, but also the same / Yes, this life! / Which ...

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Crazy Credits

The end credits also show how Veer and Zaara spend their lives in Veer's home village, including Veer playing cricket with teenagers, discussing about progress of the village and erecting two statues of Chaudhary Sumer Singh and Maati.

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Alternate Versions

The Blu-ray release of the movie now has the deleted song "Yeh Hum Agaye Hain Kahan" as per the director's vision.

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Connections

Referenced in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah: Chennai Express Special Part 2 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Aaya Tere Dar Par
Sung by Ahmed Hussain, Mohammed Hussain, Mohammed Vakil and Javed Hussain
Composed by Madan Mohan
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar

User Reviews

Humanity, respect and the power of love against time and circumstances

Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara is a film about humanity, devotion, sacrifice, and the power of love. It is a visually stunning and emotionally touching picture about star-crossed lovers who meet once and are tied forever. Yash Chopra artistically combines realism with greatly unrestrained emotion and some overdone sentimentality. Although the love story itself, the separation and everything else is very typical, Chopra creates an entirely different film in the way it portrays the respect the lovers have for each other, the honour they pay to parents and elders, and their genuine willingness to sacrifice themselves for each other. It is a cross-border love story between an Indian and a Pakistani, yet their nationality is not what prevents them from being together. That's what really makes sense in this film. It flows very well through the stunning views of Indian and Pakistani fields and groves, and colourfully shows the bright sides of each country. The film does look a bit dated, but then it does not have a defined period of historical time, which makes it an all-time saga.

The film also addresses women's empowerment through Rani Mukherjee's role of a Pakistani lawyer who tries to overcome society. There are many surprising and touching moments in the film. The love story is portrayed grandiosely, with larger-than-life orchestral music of heavy violins and piano. The movie soundtrack is perhaps the most beautiful soundtrack in recent years, and the fact that it was actually composed many years ago contributes to the epic mood of the film. Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta are great choices for the film. They resuscitate their characters with restraint and dignity and have a credible chemistry despite not having much physical interaction. Khan is the main soul of the film and he is believable in everything his character goes through. Zinta is beautiful and compelling as the intelligent and headstrong Zaara, and looks great in traditional outfits. Rani Mukhejee makes a great impact with her relatively minor but pivotal role of the tenacious, level-headed Saammiya. She is natural and impressive and leaves the film as a winner.

Veer-Zaara, though a completely entertaining epic romance, is not the greatest film you'll see and it often goes over-the-top in its emotions. It is far from being flawless and has its share of loopholes where script is concerned. Having said that, it just doesn't matter here. This film is far ahead of anything it can be blamed for. It is about the main values a person should cherish in life: humanity, respect and love, and it conveys this message very well. It is one of those films which become classics instantly, and I recommend it to anyone, whoever and wherever he is.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Yash Raj Films [India] (English)

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

12 November 2004 (India)

Also Known As:

Veer & Zaara

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$843,010, 14 November 2004

Gross USA:

$2,938,532

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,887,221

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yash Raj Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

192 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.40 : 1