Veer Zaara

Sabrina Lee

Laura Brueck

Bollywood

April 19th, 2010

Shadow on the Border

To say that the memory of partition is alive between India and Pakistan is stating the obvious. This reflection in films from Bollywood, a much more dominant form of media than anything that has come out of Pakistan to date. The eastern center of cinema is bollywood, and it gives the opportunity for films like these to come out with a one-sided view of the country of Pakistan. The main characters are well played, but contribute to the representation of Pakistan in the film, much of which was discussed in class, but I agree with.

The opening scenes feature the playful, and somewhat western approach many of SK's characters begin as, but in this case he is again a representation of the government as a proud military pilot, which is shown to us with patriotic scenes whenever he steps foot on an airbase in his pristine blue uniform. This is contrasted constantly, later, by the uniforms from Pakistan which are always darker colors, and associated with corruption, villainy, and personal favors in a corrupt government run by a few families, such as Zaara's. In contrast, the life in village India is given a much more noble light than the shadow of wealth they display whenever we cut to Pakistan when it is not inside of a prison. Given the film revolves around the failing of the Pakistani legal system, the signs of bigotry and sexism during the preliminary hearings of the trial and before are another red flag- suggesting this would not be the case in India, where equality is supposed to be more important. I found that the film avoiding any mention of Zaara asking to find his body after the crash that sets up the later 22 year skip was going a bit far, even for bollywood. Also the skip leaves out the efforts of the government of India and other bodies, and highlights a supposedly corrupt and failing legal system that denies everyone, from Indian to Pakistani, the right to a speedy trial and to essentially be given a life sentence in prison because of that. Every official is set with a clear problem, and the woman with 'Indian' ideals eventually prevails and forces the symbol of the failed system, the prosecution lawyer, to resign from law.

Overall, the cinematography was impressive enough to note, many of the shots used common techniques of creating a frame out of objects in the shot when the characters were displayed, and there were less sweeping view shots given this was a politically themed film. There are moments that seem out of sort, such as the final border crossing. The guard on the Pakistani side seems to have little pride for the job, a dig at the nation itself, and the imagination of Pakistan as a bad place compared to India, that should never have existed in the first place, seems more affirmed by this movie showcasing all the failings of the Muslim country and how bad things have become, playing into what I must imagine should be a contemporary view that even after 60 years, it still should be a a part of India in the mind of Indians and not a free state that just happens to have a less dominant profile of entertainment media to portray lifestyles and international relations between the two states.