Veer Zaara

Uday Reddy

The story of India’s independence is a bittersweet one. On one hand, Hindustan is finally free from British oppression. On the other hand, the problems of partition threatened to destroy the nation. The creation of Pakistan, while welcomed by the Muslims, only served to divide India. Inter-religious violence soon ensued and millions of people were displaced. The memory of partition is still strong in Indian minds. Veer-Zaara, despite being filmed in 2004 by Yash Chopra, stirs up images of violence and turmoil in post-independence India. The film was widely successful not just within India, but also abroad which is unconventional due to the subject matter.
Veer-Zaara, set in partition-era India and Pakistan, tells the love story between an Indian Air Force Squadron Leader, Veer Pratap Sing (Shah Rukh Khan), and Zaara Khan, a Pakistani girl from Lahore. The story begins when the fiery Zaara fulfils the dying wish of her Bebe, despite knowing that her parents would absolutely forbid it. Her Bebe, who appears to be a family servant that migrated to Lahore with the Khans, asks her to take her ashes and return them to India. It is on this trip, that Zaara meets Squadron Leader Singh. Her bus crashes on the way to the river that she was traveling to, and Squadron Leader Singh repels down and rescues her. She happens to drop her bag, and forces Singh to go back down and get it. It is for good reason though, as in the bag are her Bebe’s ashes. After returning to solid ground, Veer Pratap Sing volunteers to escort Zaara to her destination so she arrives safe and sound. On the way, he persuades her to visit his village. He is returning home after a long tour of duty with the Air Force only for Lodi, a local traditional holiday.
After arriving, the duo is greeted with open arms. Zaara is mistaken to be Veer’s bride, only furthers the foreshadowing of the love interest between the two. During her stay, she notices that Veer’s aunt and uncle, who raised him, have put up a school in the village but only the boys were allowed to study properly there. She petitions to the uncle and melts his heart so much, that he dedicates the groundbreaking to Zaara. He gives a speech about how she inspired him to realize equality, a central theme in Veer-Zaara. After learning that Zaara is engaged, Veer professes his love to her and she returns to Lahore unsure of what to do.
She explains her feelings to her mother who instantly disagrees with her. She is Pakistani and must marry another Pakistani. Her father overhears this news and emphasizes this point, and also notes that she must marry his political ally’s son to strengthen the political bonds of the family. One thing to note is that Veer’s parents are completely open and accepting of the fact that Zaara is Pakistani. This demonstrates the Indian bias the film has. India is shown to be more modern and progressive thinking than Pakistan. They put up schools for women and promote inter-religious marriage, while the Pakistanis are shown as shovanistic and resistant to change.
Veer-Zaara wears its core themes on its sleeves. Obvious ideas of equality and women’s rights are shown constantly throughout the movie. It also blatantly portrays India as the “better” nation, but it also subdues tensions between the two nations by showing Pakistan change towards the end of the movie, although they try to keep it more of a love story than an India versus Pakistan movie. All in all I think this is one of the better movies of the semester because it is not as cliché as the others, and never seemed to drag that much.