This is maybe one the most challenging reviews I’ve written so far. After all, it’s on such a legendry (yeah legendry is the word) movie, that a substandard writer like me may not be able to do justice to it! But still I’d try my best. So here is my attempt of reviewing one of the best movies made in Bollywood so far!
Let’s start with the maker of this flick - Yash Chopra. This movie is like a golden feather on his already very well decorated cap. I’ve seen almost all his movies and I really admire the man’s talent, but I won’t be shy in stating that this is the best Yash Chopra film till date! And he has created such a masterpiece that even in future he’d find it very tough to match the quality of Veer-Zara. A typical Yash Chopra love story with songs and human emotions in abundance, but this movie has some kind of charisma, which wasn’t there in his earlier flicks.
Coming to the star cast now. Wow it’s like a dream come true! With so many great performers present on the screen concurrently the result just can’t be anything short than magical! It’s like a lavish treat for the real lovers of Indian cinema! Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Anupam Kher, Kiran Kher, Manoj Bajpai – it just can’t get better than this!
Shahrukh will always be proud of this movie. He has delivered (yet once again) a gem of a performance and it’s our good fortune that we got a chance to watch such an ardent display of acting by the King Khan. He has proved yet once again why he is the king of Bollywood!
Rani Mukherjee’s performance is as good as Shahrukh’s if not better. This Bengali girl has really graduated as an actress and carried out quite a tough role with an effortless ease. She expressed a lot through her eyes and I haven’t seen a better dialogue delivery from her before! There are moments when she is even able to overshadow Shahrukh.
Preity is very good just like the rest of the cast. Anupam, Kiran, Manoj and even Preity’s friend D(ivya)Dutta have delivered an errorless feat. Amitabh and Hema Malini are loveable and able to attract the whistles of the crowd. It’s very rare that the not even one of the actor falters and it indeed has happened in this movie.
Coming to the story now. Veer-Zara is nothing short of Laila Majnu, Romeo Juliet, Soni Mahiwal and Heer Ranjha as far as the intensity of lovers and melancholy milieu is concerned. But the only difference is the happy ending! Maybe that’s why this love story is so unique. Romeo Juliet gives you some moments of joy but when you come out of the theatre your heart is gloomy and tears flooding your eyes. Veer-Zara too will make you cry but when you will leave the theatre your heart will be buoyant and eyes filled with tears of joy!
Veer-Zara has proved this theory wrong that to make the audience cry you always need a sad ending! Well, in a way the ending is sad, but the effect of that sadness shrinks considerably as the lovers amalgamate.
Shahrukh (Veer) is in Indian Air Force with a job of saving people’s lives. Preity (Zara) is a Pakistani girl who comes to India to merge the ashes of her nanny (whom she considered more than a mother) in the holy river. While coming to India her bus meets with an accident and Shahrukh saves her life. Not only this he even helps her in completing the religious ceremony she was here for! Preity is really grateful and asks if Shahrukh wants anything in return for all his abet. Shahrukh asks her to spend a day with him. He takes her to his village and introduces her to his uncle and aunt (Amitabh and Hema) who had brought him up (he was a orphan). They don’t even realize when they fall in love!
Just when Shahrukh was about to propose her, her fiancée (Manoj) comes into the scenario. Still he expresses his love to Preity and when she goes back to Pakistan she just finds it impossible to survive without him! Her friend D(ivya)Dutta calls Shahrukh and asks him to come to Lahore as Preity was being married to Manoj. Shahrukh relinquishes his job and reaches Lahore without telling anyone.
He is in a Pakistani jail since then for twenty-two long years! No one has ever heard a word from his mouth. For them he is just a prisoner number 786.
What happened in Pakistan? Why is he in jail? Why is he not speaking up? What lies in future for him? Will he ever be able to go back to his motherland? To get an answer to all these questions don’t even think of missing this once in a lifetime love story!
Music is terrific, songs are great and rich lyrics of Javed Akhtar just act as honey in the milk. Dialogues are very intense and will certainly move you from inside! The actors must thank the dialogue writer for strengthening their characters with his brilliant inscription. The movie moves at a very fast pace and even though the length is about three and half hours, yet it’s always able to keep the audience attached. You won’t even know when the time flies by! If any movie really deserves to get five stars, it is this one!
To conclude I’d like to warn that I’m recommending this movie to all those who have a heart, and much more for those whose heart is filled with love and emotions! Stonehearted people please excuse! Don’t forget to take lots of tissues with you, as you’ll need them throughout! I hope Veer-Zara is sent as an entry this year for the nomination of Oscar Awards.
© Tanmay Singh, 2004