Veer-Zaara

Allie Padnos
Film Review- Veer-Zaara
4/18/10

Veer-Zaara is a Bollywood love centered film between Veer Pratap Singh, an officer in the Indian Air Force, and a Zaara Hayaat Khan who is an engaged Pakistani Muslim. In the beginning of the film we quickly learn the close relationship between Zaara and her Hindi servant Bebe. Bebe is deathly ill and her last wish is for her ashes to be spread in India. Zaara takes this death wish to heart and has the initiative to cross the boarder into India, even though she is aware of her father’s disapproval. Bebe’s wish represents national identity and pride since it clearly is important for her resting spot to be in her home nation. The film demonstrates typical Bollywood themes of national identity, gender, religion, and the overlapping of western and traditional values.
Throughout the film India is depicted as accepting and generous to outside visitors. On Zaara’s journey she is saved and airlifted by Veer, after a misfortunate bus accident in the mountains. There is a deep connection between the two immediately, and since Zaara is unfamiliar with India, Veer becomes her traveling companion. In return Zaara accepted Veer’s invitation to take her back to his village for a day so she could see how Veer lives and also to meet his family. Zaara is quickly welcomed in to Veer’s family and spends the day learning and participating in the Hindi culture. During her visit she shares her insight and knowledge about women to Veer’s uncle who created the village they were in. Veer’s uncle is deeply touched by Zaara’s confusion on why the Hindi women are unable to further their education at a university level, and in response is compelled to create a female school in the village. The feministic theme of gender is also seen in the opening song that introduces Zaara when she displays her personality as independent and being able to make her own choices for herself. Veer is intrigued by Zaara and falls in love with her, despite their different heritages. Zaara fails to mention her engagement to a Pakistani through an arranged marriage, which is indirectly uncovered when her fiancé is waiting for her at the train station to go back to Pakistan. Veer is heartbroken and makes Zaara’s future husband promise to always make her smile for the rest of her life.
Zaara is faced with a difficult predicament because she has also fallen for Veer, and the love in her heart remains present, which causes complications with her family. Shabbo, a worker for the Pakistani family and Zaara’s best friend, understands the situation and takes the intuitive to arrange Veer to come to Pakistan to reunite with his love. Zaara goes against her father’s wishes and overtly expresses her love with him, which ends in disaster. Veer fully understands there is no way he can be with Zaara and decides to go back to India, but hits a life changing detour before his departure. Zaara’s fiancé sets him up with the police and he is faced with a horrible bribe. The result of the encounter puts him in the Pakistan jail in order to make Zaara’s life loving and happy. Veer’s name is forever erased and replaced with the identity of prisoner number 786.
The film represents India through a modern forward way of thinking, since love is viewed as a free choice and the happiness of one is greatly important. Zaara’s family shares contradicting views that is surrounded by business and high reputations, which discards the idea of free love.
Twenty two years of sitting in jail, Veer is confronted by Saamiya who is a young lawyer interested with Veer and the abusing of Human Rights in Pakistan. Her main goal is to learn Veer’s mistreated unfortunate story and freeing him to go back to his home nation. She travels back to Veer’s village and learns that Zaara thought Veer had died and fled to India to live in his village and fulfill his life intentions. Zaara’s court appearance provided clear evidence and support which enabled Veer to be not guilty. After years of misery and lost information, Veer and Zaara were reunited and moved back to India together. The film produces an overall theme of national identity since Zaara assimilates into Hindi culture and they both finally end up together back in India. When Veer first crosses the boarder he touches the Hindi soil and kisses his hand which represent the pride and love he has for his homeland.
Religion was also a dominant reoccurring theme in Veer-Zaara. In the first half of the movie when Zaara disperses Bebe’s ashes, she makes it clear she wants it done completely traditional and Hindustani. A nearby Seek is compelled with the amount of honor Zaara has for her Bebe and agrees to bless Bebe even though Zaara is Muslim. Another religion orientated instance was when we find out Veer’s prison number is 786, because that is ironically Allah’s number. The number symbolizes hope and faith of freedom, which is finally granted. Lastly there are numerous scenes where Hindi and Muslim religion is depicted through traditional rituals.
The music throughout the movie neither represented Hindi or Pakistan individually, but blended them together to evoke the significance of the film’s plot. They represented the idea of accepting Pakistani’s and incorporating them into Hindustani values and culture. I believe the music was parallel to the film’s main idea of accepting Pakistan, but did not significantly contribute to specific Hindustani themes besides national identity.
Overall I thought the film was interesting and plotted well. Since Zaara’s life was left as a mystery while Veer was in jail, it kept me very intrigued and anxious to find out where she was. The film explored a new perspective of Pakistani acceptance and the idea of how similar the two nation states really were. Veer-Zaara took on a modern perspective but held on to the typical Bollywood themes of national identity, religion, gender, and tradition. Overall I enjoyed this classical love story film.