Veer-Zaara

Chopra (pictured) made his return to direction after 7 years with Veer-Zaara.

Yash Chopra was due to return to directing after 7 years since Dil To Pagal Hai (1997).[4] After his son Aditya completed filming for Mohabbatein (2000), they started to look for a new script for Chopra's return as a director. None of the new scripts excited Chopra; he expressed his disdain at the new trend of the films of the time, stating, "I was tired of television promos. All the semi-clad girls look the same." Chopra stated he was as nervous of his return as he was while directing his debut Dhool Ka Phool (1959). He then finalised another script and began casting for roles.[5] Aditya then provided a narration of a few scenes of a new script, but conveyed that he would be unable to direct it. Chopra was interested and began to work on the new project.[5]

According to Aditya, the story of Veer-Zaara was written as a medium for his father to return to his Punjabi roots. Chopra was born in Lahore, Punjab (present-day Pakistan) and later moved with his family to Jalandhar when he was young. He travelled to Bombay (present-day Mumbai) in 1951, when he was introduced to the film industry.[6] Speaking about the film's theme, Chopra said, "Veer-Zaara is a humble tribute to my home in Punjab. It is my tribute to the oneness of people on both sides of the border."[5] In preparation, Chopra watched videos of Pakistani marriages and consulted Nasreen Rehman, a professor of the Cambridge University for the film's portrayal of Pakistani culture, their courts and dialects.[7]

While completing the film, Chopra and Aditya had a discussion about the film's title. Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum was one of the contenders for the title, but Veer-Zaara was ultimately chosen. Chopra said, "The film's lovers are not bothered with the strife around them. For them, love is the only religion."[5] The title Veer-Zaara was initially hinted to mislead audiences.[8] The film's titled was officially confirmed by Sanjeev Kohli, CEO of Yash Raj Films, who stated that the title was chosen after "much deliberation".[8] Chopra stated that he used to have constant arguments with Aditya while filming Veer-Zaara.[5]

Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta were cast as the eponymous star-crossed lovers.

Shah Rukh Khan was cast in the lead role of Veer.[9] Khan shortly played a 60-year-old man in the film, which he felt was a difficult role for him.[10]

Zaara's role was first offered to Kajol, upon her rejection, the role went to Zinta.[11] According to Chopra, Zinta was a person whose "looks and personality could be transformed." He wanted to break the Western stereotype characters played by Zinta.[5] Zinta was interested in being a part of the film due to Chopra's finesse as a director. She also felt that it was time to move on from war-oriented films with Pakistan, saying, "I thought that was a great message to have in a film and I think what our governments can't do... what our government cannot do, our cinema can do and this film is truly doing that."[12] Zinta had to attend various lessons for improving her diction for speaking Urdu.[12] Though excited at first, she later "got knots in her stomach" worrying about her performance, but Chopra assured her.[13]

Based on the Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jehangir, the role of Saamiya Siddiqui was initially offered to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Pakistani actress Nadia Jamil, but upon their refusal, it went to Rani Mukherji.[14][15] Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini were cast as Veer's foster parents.[16] Manoj Bajpayee was cast as Zaara's fiancé, a role which was originally offered to Ajay Devgn.[17] In 2017, while promoting Aiyaary, Bajpayee revealed that Chopra used to often worry about the film's possible failure.[18] Boman Irani was cast in the supporting role of Zaara's father.[18] Real-life couple Anupam Kher and Kirron Kher appear in the film as Saamiya's mentor and Zaara's mother respectively, though they do not share the same frame.[14] Other cast members included Divya Dutta, Zohra Sehgal, Akhilendra Mishra, and Tom Alter.[19] Chopra denied the existence of a rivalry between the co-actors in the film, when asked about it in an interview with The Quint.[20]

In addition to writing the story and screenplay, Aditya co-produced the film along with his father under the banner Yash Raj Films.[19] The film's costumes were handled by Manish Malhotra.[21] Khan's costumes were specifically designed by Karan Johar.[14] Mandira Shukla was the film's costume designer.[22] Anil Mehta, the cinematographer, was requested by Chopra to give the scenes a feel of olden times, in contrast with other films of the time like Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003).[17] Sharmishta Roy, daughter of art director Sudhendu Roy, was chosen as the art director.[20][23] Saroj Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant were the choreographers.[19] Allan Amin was the action director.[24]

In October 2004, Rediff.com published an exclusive "On The Sets" report for Veer-Zaara. The website reported that the cast members wore expensive costumes, one being Zinta, who wore a flurocent green lungi outfit; Khan was late for the shot.[25] Parts of the film were shot in various locations in Mumbai.[25] In 2004, the National Geographic reported that a folk festival sequence was being shot in Film City, Mumbai. An set that represented Punjab was created and Sikh dancers were brought in, whom, according to the report, look like peacocks due to their colorful turbans.[6] All scenes which featured Khan in a prison were shot in a single day,[17] at a jail in Pakistan.[26] The court scenes were shot in a Pakistani law court.[26]

While filming for an action sequence with Khan, Zinta had a near-fatal experience when she was hanging from a harness for nearly six hours. Zinta labeled it "one of the most humbling experiences of [her] life" and stated that it made her realise the difficulties male actors have to go through.[12] For a sequence involving Khan's character calling Mukherji's character 'daughter', over 10 retakes were taken, and a pack-up was also announced by an "infuriated" Chopra, according to Khan.[10] According to Mukherji, Chopra usually used to refrain from taking retakes as these would make the actors "mechanical".[27]

Veer-Zaara was filmed entirely in sync sound. Khan stated that although he did not have to dub lines for the film separately, he did dub a few dialogues for the film.[28] Saif Ali Khan's palace in Pataudi served as Zaara's mansion.[29] A shoot was carried out in Punjab during a particular season, after which the indoor shooting was completed. Most of the filming was done in secrecy and no official announcements were made.[5] Initially planned to be filmed over a period of 102 days, the film's filming was completed in 72 days.[12] The film's reel length was 17757.61 ft (5412.52 m).[30]

Veer-Zaara was released on 12 November 2004 and promoted with the tagline, "A Love Legend".[30][54] A special screening was conducted in Punjab, Pakistan for Pakistani audiences.[55] Apart from that, it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival, where it received high critical acclaim.[56]

On 26 April 2006, Veer-Zaara had its French premiere at The Grand Rex, the biggest theatre in Paris. It is the first Indian film to premiere in such a large and luxe venue.[57] It was released in 60 prints in the United Kingdom, and in the United States in 88 prints.[58][59] In 2017, Veer-Zaara was restrained at the Best of Indian film series in the United States.[60]

On 6 June 2005, Yash Raj Films released the DVD of Veer-Zaara.[61] The film was released on Blu-ray in December 2009.[62] In September 2007, a book based on the making of the film, titled They Said It... The Memoirs of a Love Legend Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara, was released. The book contains testimonials from members of the film's cast and crew and follows the production stages of the film. The film was made available on Amazon Prime Video.[63]

Veer-Zaara was commercially successful at the box office.[3] Prior to the film's release, Adarsh predicted that the film would be a commercial success.[64]

It was released in 625 screens in India and grossed ₹ 24.6 million nett on its opening day, the year's second highest-opening for a film in India.[65] Veer-Zaara topped the week's highest-grossing films in India in the first week, grossing an average of ₹ 6,85,948 per print.[66] It earned ₹ 175.7 million nett in its first week, the highest first week collection of an Indian film.[67] Since its release, it topped the weekly charts 39 times in India.[68] It also had the highest weekend collection of the year, earning ₹ 97.8 million over the weekend.[69] The film remained at the first position in its second week of release, grossing an average of ₹ 1,89,502 per print.[70] At the end of its theatrical run, it collected ₹ 580 million in India, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year.[71]

The film earned ₹ 357 million in the international markets–₹ 152.5 million from the United Kingdom, ₹ 140 million from the United States and ₹ 65 million from other territories–making it 2004's highest-grossing Indian production overseas. In its first week in the United Kingdom, the film collected $900,000, for the fourth position on the local box office chart. The film collected the same amount in North America, 15th on the local box office chart.[59] The film was a blockbuster, with regard to its overseas collection.[72] Veer-Zaara grossed a total of ₹976.4 million (US$12 million) worldwide, becoming the highest grossing Indian film of the year.[3]

Veer-Zaara was highly acclaimed by critics, who praised the film's story, screenplay, dialogues, music, performances and sensitive portrayal of India-Pakistan relations.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.[73] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average to films, it has a score of 67 based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[74] The film featured in the British Film Institute's list of 10 Great Bollywood Romances, with commentary by Rachel Dwyer. Dwyer feels that the film represents the "much-shared culture and history" of the Punjab. She writes, "Their dramatization in the film shows Chopra’s skill with film and music."[75]

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 4.5 stars out of five and comments, "There's romance, there's a strong dose of emotions, there're songs aplenty, there's drama... But, most important, it has soul, which has been lacking in most movies of late".[76] Writing for India Today, Kaveree Bamzai gave a positive review and compliments Khan's performance, writing, "Khan strides across Aditya Chopra's screenplay with assured ease."[77] Subhash K. Jha gave Veer-Zaara a positive review for Indo-Asian News Service, praising the performances of the leads as "old yet passionate, frail yet sublime" and writes, "The surge of love between two people belonging to entirely different cultures and lands is collected into a quaint and quivering collage of memory and melody."[78]

Jitesh Pillai of The Times of India rates it 3.5 stars out of five, crediting Aditya's writing and its execution. He writes, "Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara may be woefully long and meandering. But... this one works and grabs us where it matters. VZ is one from the heart."[79] Also writing for Times of India, Nishtha Bhatnagar called it a "must-watch".[80] Deepu Madhavan of NDTV praised the execution of the plot and writes, "the love story of Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh and Zaara Hayaat Khan is an ode to ageless romance and timeless love."[81] Avijit Ghosh gave the film 7/10 in The Telegraph and writes, "The film works because the stars shine. Preity's Zaara is both restrained and dignified. This is her most nuanced performance to date." He criticised the film's length and excessive use of Punjabi, but finally writes, "We have an honest-to-the-heart film that remarkably bypasses the bitterness of Indo-Pak relations in a cross-border love story... Veer-Zaara is for all seasons and every reason."[82] Namrata Joshi of Outlook described it as "a good-hearted film wherein the underlying theme is the all-embracing goodness of 'people'."[83][84]

Chitra Mahesh of The Hindu writes, "Veer-Zaara is inordinately long and sentimental. Certain things like fabulous camera work, art direction, and sensuousness of the moods, are a given. And you would overlook the cliches simply because there are such good performances, especially from Zinta and Mukherji," while also appreciating that Khan "looks good and performs most creditably."[85] Sukanya Varma of Rediff.com criticised Chopra for repeating content from his previous films, while appreciating the performances and finally writes, "if you are a fan of the Chopra factory of filmmaking and looking for plenty of eye-candy, Veer-Zaara promises to make your Diwali a happy one."[54] In another review for The Times of India, Teena Malik heavily criticised it in agreement with Verma for repetition of content, and labelled the film "horrifying".[86]

Anita Gates of New York Times writes that Veer-Zaara "would be embraced as fabulously trashy" had it been an American film but credits the cultural impact, writing, "the cultural assumptions of Veer and Zaara add a welcome element of freshness for American audiences. When Zaara's mother reminds her daughter that women always love fully, with heart and soul, she casually adds, "Men don't have the strength to love like that."[87] Derek Elley of Variety observes that while it does not have "technique and production sheen" as recent Hindi films, Veer-Zaara's "in-depth star casting and thorough entertainment values" make it a "must-see" for Indian filmgoers.[47] Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide wrote, "Though Chopra's film is emotionally extravagant even by the standards of India's epically unrestrained cinema, the star-crossed lovers bear the weighty metaphorical significance of their travails surprisingly lightly, particularly Zinta's radiantly lovely Zaara."[88] Jonathan Curiel of San Francisco Chronicle was particularly fond of the film, finding the movie experience "so arresting, its scenes so full of beauty and colors, that the three hours go by almost too fast". He further noted that unlike other Hindi films, it deserves a wider audience for portraying "the humanity in characters who represent 'the other'", done "in a way that's dramatic, funny, fun, silly, musical, stylish, romantic and redemptive".[89]

Carrie R. Wheadon of Common Sense Media gives it four stars out of five and rates it as 11+, writing, "Those who watch can't miss the pleas for understanding and peace between India and Pakistan or the film's strong support of equality for women." She compliments the picturization of the songs, opening, "Even the slower love songs will hold viewers, especially as Zaara dreams about seeing Veer everywhere while she prepares for her wedding."[90] Manish Gajjar of BBC commented, "Veer-Zaara has a great storyline with some unpredictable twists and emotions, keeping you engrossed throughout."[91]