Now this is the kind of movie that reeks of Yash Chopra all the way from start to finish. And it also reeks of being written by Aditya Chopra. Because it is a larger than life and unbelievable kind of romance. The one that transcends all sorts of boundaries – in the literal sense of the word. One that can be described using the word – unrequited. Very few instances where this ten letter word can be used.
Now, because I have used the word reek, I would not want you guys to misunderstand how I feel about the movie. I liked Veer-Zaara. In fact I liked it a lot. Probably because of the unbelievable romance that the Senior Chopra weaves around the even more unbelievable story of an Indian Air Force Search and Rescue Operator – Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) and the daughter of a Pakistani politician Zaara Hyatt Khan (Preity Zinta).
Veer meets Zaara when he rescues her from a bus that finds itself at the bottom of a ravine. Zaara is en route to a shrine in Punjab to immerse the ashes of her grandmother (Zohra Sehgal) because it was her last wish. Veer helps her recover the ashes from the ravine and also takes her to the shrine. For some inexplicable reason he is drawn towards her and asks her to stay back for one more day.
Of course she accepts and much like Veer is unable to explain her feelings. As aptly summarized by Veer when he leaves Zaara @ the Atari train, “Mein chahoonga ki Zaara ko zindagi bhar koi takleef nahin pahunche. Agar Yeh Mohabbat hai Razaa Saab (Manoj Bajpai) toh haan mujhe Zaara se Mohabbat hai” (If hoping that no harm befalls Zaara is being in love with her, then yes Razaa Saab, I am in love with her).
So starts a love story that ends with Veer in a Pakistani jail and twenty two years later, a human rights lawyer by the name of Saamia Siddiqui (Rani Mukherjee) attempting to free him. All quite poetic and romantic but without a shred of believability right?
If you keep aside that aspect of the story and are willing to believe that the concept like this is possible, then Veer-Zaara would definitely bet up there in terms of a love story beyond compare. And a lot of it has to do with the capability of Yash Chopra to pain a picture that is so dreamy that the romantic at heart (like this author) cannot help but get drawn into this web of headiness.
And if the direction wasn’t sufficient, the late Madan Mohan’s haunting melodies will definitely get you all mushy for certain. That it was put together from some old tunes of Panditji makes it even better and great fodder for quizzes.
If there was a flaw other than the unreal story, it would be the length of the movie but then one expects nothing less than 3.5 hours from Yash Chopra anyways. So with some mental preparation, you should breeze through it. However, if you are not upto totally mushy romance movies then avoid VZ like the plague.
I repeat. I liked it. A lot. But then I am a romantic. The question you need to answer is – are you? 7 on 10
Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd2bOhJTIlY
Now, because I have used the word reek, I would not want you guys to misunderstand how I feel about the movie. I liked Veer-Zaara. In fact I liked it a lot. Probably because of the unbelievable romance that the Senior Chopra weaves around the even more unbelievable story of an Indian Air Force Search and Rescue Operator – Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) and the daughter of a Pakistani politician Zaara Hyatt Khan (Preity Zinta).
Veer meets Zaara when he rescues her from a bus that finds itself at the bottom of a ravine. Zaara is en route to a shrine in Punjab to immerse the ashes of her grandmother (Zohra Sehgal) because it was her last wish. Veer helps her recover the ashes from the ravine and also takes her to the shrine. For some inexplicable reason he is drawn towards her and asks her to stay back for one more day.
Of course she accepts and much like Veer is unable to explain her feelings. As aptly summarized by Veer when he leaves Zaara @ the Atari train, “Mein chahoonga ki Zaara ko zindagi bhar koi takleef nahin pahunche. Agar Yeh Mohabbat hai Razaa Saab (Manoj Bajpai) toh haan mujhe Zaara se Mohabbat hai” (If hoping that no harm befalls Zaara is being in love with her, then yes Razaa Saab, I am in love with her).
So starts a love story that ends with Veer in a Pakistani jail and twenty two years later, a human rights lawyer by the name of Saamia Siddiqui (Rani Mukherjee) attempting to free him. All quite poetic and romantic but without a shred of believability right?
If you keep aside that aspect of the story and are willing to believe that the concept like this is possible, then Veer-Zaara would definitely bet up there in terms of a love story beyond compare. And a lot of it has to do with the capability of Yash Chopra to pain a picture that is so dreamy that the romantic at heart (like this author) cannot help but get drawn into this web of headiness.
And if the direction wasn’t sufficient, the late Madan Mohan’s haunting melodies will definitely get you all mushy for certain. That it was put together from some old tunes of Panditji makes it even better and great fodder for quizzes.
If there was a flaw other than the unreal story, it would be the length of the movie but then one expects nothing less than 3.5 hours from Yash Chopra anyways. So with some mental preparation, you should breeze through it. However, if you are not upto totally mushy romance movies then avoid VZ like the plague.
I repeat. I liked it. A lot. But then I am a romantic. The question you need to answer is – are you? 7 on 10
Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd2bOhJTIlY
This movie was one of my favorite movies of all time
ReplyDeleteNot sure why but the music blends beautifully with the movie