Name of the movie: Veer-Zaara
Starring: Sharhrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Amitabh Bahchan, Hema Malini, Rani Mukerji, Boman Irani, Kirron Kher, Divya Dutta
Rating: -5/5
After Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham- It’s all about loving your parents, here’s presenting Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zaara– It’s all about shoving your parents.
Yash Chopra had said during an interview that he liked making meaningful films. It’s sad that he never manages to do what he likes.
If Yash Chopra reckoned a story of 2 saccharine lovers sacrificing their worlds (and incidentally, countries) for each other could pass for an India-Pakistan relations-booster, either he is a fool or he should be executed for thinking us fools.
The film begins with Rani Mukerji (or Mukerjee or Mukherji or Kmukerjee or Mmukkerrjiii) trying to elicit the truth from ShahRukh Khan- a detained Indian AirForce officer in a Pakistan jail. The flashback follows:
Zaara (Preity or Preety or Priety) wakes up from sleep and avers in a 5-minute ordeal (read song) that she will never change. Her doting servant/caretaker/friend (Divya Dutta) seems to find the whole thing very cute (I unleash my first yawn). Zaara’s grandmother is about to die and wants her ashes submerged in the Ganges (Yash Chopra can exhale. The India-Pak link is forged.). Yash Chopra doesn’t take long to finish her off.
The sanskaari granddaughter, deciding to do the honours, travels to India, where she is rescued from a predicament by You Know Who. Veer, who is initially pretty peeved about Zaara’s obduracy (to know why Zaara was obdurate, you must watch the film), is mollified by her apology. He gives her some lassi and offers to put her up in his house. Move over Britannica. ShahRukh Khan can give you a 4-minute synopsis of India. The first line of the song when translated reads “Golden Earth, Blue Skies, Colourful Seasons- this is my country”. That’s equivalent to “two eyes, one nose, two ears” uniquely defining a person. But why listen to the lyrics? The song gives time for restless men to have a puff or relieve themselves.
She enters his Punjabi household. His parents are delighted to have such a convivial little mynah in their house, who despite being a Pakistani, behaves like a normal human being. Eureka! While most directors provide food for thought, Yash Chopra has his thought as food (and thus looks malnourished*). She gels with his community like Sprite with Vodka, convinces Amithabh to open a school for girls, sings a song with Veer, Amitabh, and Hema, and becomes the cynosure of all eyes in the village. Then in an expected turn of events, she falls in love with Veer. He tells her that he would die for her with alacrity. Yash Chopra loses plenty of hair in trying to show how hospitable Indians can be.
When she goes back to Pakistan, her father (Boman Irani) informs her that she would be marrying some man he’d chosen. Zaara asks her mother if the groom in question, or even her father, would die for her. When she’s about to chide her, Zaara says she knew an Indian who would give his life for her (fall in line, suicide squads). Boman rubbishes her betrothal to Veer and fixes the nuptial dates. Divya Dutta asks ShahRukh to rush to the venue. He reaches in time. (Another song starts. I get disgusted and walk out, preferring the mosquitoes’ drone to Late Madan Mohan’s music. I enter 5 minutes after the song ends and miss a couple of scenes.)
Veer is escorted to prison by Zaara’s fiancé (Manoj Bajpai) and is asked to stay there under a false identity if he wants Zaara to stay happy. Veer, realising that Zaara’s happiness is more important than his parents’ survival, assents, and becomes known as Qaidi no.786. Thus Veer, leaving his aging parents for the vultures, resigns to his custom-made fate. But how could Veer-Zaara be a Wholesome Family Entertainer if Zaara showed Veer the finger and decided to live with Manoj? She moves to India, to Veer’s village, takes care of his parents, becomes haggard, and learns some Punjabi.
Back to the present, Rani, the lawyer, hearing this poignant tale, vows to give Qaidi no.786 back his identity (and thus show that benevolence is not patented by India). Fighting the best lawyer around wasn’t much of a problem for her. She brought Zaara to the court and virtually closed the case. But before the judge used his mallet, he granted them 5 minutes for a reunion song and another 5 for Veer’s parting speech (the dialogue sequence he needs to justify the awards he gets). After the speech, the audience and the judge stand-up and applaud. The grey-haired Veer goes back home with the haggard-and-Punjabised Zaara and live happily ever after.
(My friend shakes me up and tells me it’s finally over. I sigh, relieved. I walk out of the theatre, wiser- never watch a movie without getting reviews from like-minded sources.)
The saving grace of the movie was Rani Mukerji, who looked gorgeous. But she, along with Amitabh, Boman Irani, Kirron Kher, and Anupam Kher, is wasted in a nugatory role. Shahrukh does in Veer-Zaara what he’s been doing since time immemorial. Preity wasn’t challenged either. If I was asked to name one person who did his job well, I would
I would name the make-up man. Old people did look old (unlike Kkekta Kkkapoor’s serials, where old age means spectacles, a streak of white paint at the sideburns, and the odd cough).
How Veer-Zaara is different from other films of its genre?
Yash Chopra claimed Veer-Zaara would be different from other love stories. It actually was. The flashback started from 22 years behind instead of the customary ‘aaj se bees saal pehle’.
*These views are strictly personal. Please do not come to my room shouting anti-Akshay slogans.
Yash Chopra had said during an interview that he liked making meaningful films. It’s sad that he never manages to do what he likes.
If Yash Chopra reckoned a story of 2 saccharine lovers sacrificing their worlds (and incidentally, countries) for each other could pass for an India-Pakistan relations-booster, either he is a fool or he should be executed for thinking us fools.
The film begins with Rani Mukerji (or Mukerjee or Mukherji or Kmukerjee or Mmukkerrjiii) trying to elicit the truth from ShahRukh Khan- a detained Indian AirForce officer in a Pakistan jail. The flashback follows:
Zaara (Preity or Preety or Priety) wakes up from sleep and avers in a 5-minute ordeal (read song) that she will never change. Her doting servant/caretaker/friend (Divya Dutta) seems to find the whole thing very cute (I unleash my first yawn). Zaara’s grandmother is about to die and wants her ashes submerged in the Ganges (Yash Chopra can exhale. The India-Pak link is forged.). Yash Chopra doesn’t take long to finish her off.
The sanskaari granddaughter, deciding to do the honours, travels to India, where she is rescued from a predicament by You Know Who. Veer, who is initially pretty peeved about Zaara’s obduracy (to know why Zaara was obdurate, you must watch the film), is mollified by her apology. He gives her some lassi and offers to put her up in his house. Move over Britannica. ShahRukh Khan can give you a 4-minute synopsis of India. The first line of the song when translated reads “Golden Earth, Blue Skies, Colourful Seasons- this is my country”. That’s equivalent to “two eyes, one nose, two ears” uniquely defining a person. But why listen to the lyrics? The song gives time for restless men to have a puff or relieve themselves.
She enters his Punjabi household. His parents are delighted to have such a convivial little mynah in their house, who despite being a Pakistani, behaves like a normal human being. Eureka! While most directors provide food for thought, Yash Chopra has his thought as food (and thus looks malnourished*). She gels with his community like Sprite with Vodka, convinces Amithabh to open a school for girls, sings a song with Veer, Amitabh, and Hema, and becomes the cynosure of all eyes in the village. Then in an expected turn of events, she falls in love with Veer. He tells her that he would die for her with alacrity. Yash Chopra loses plenty of hair in trying to show how hospitable Indians can be.
When she goes back to Pakistan, her father (Boman Irani) informs her that she would be marrying some man he’d chosen. Zaara asks her mother if the groom in question, or even her father, would die for her. When she’s about to chide her, Zaara says she knew an Indian who would give his life for her (fall in line, suicide squads). Boman rubbishes her betrothal to Veer and fixes the nuptial dates. Divya Dutta asks ShahRukh to rush to the venue. He reaches in time. (Another song starts. I get disgusted and walk out, preferring the mosquitoes’ drone to Late Madan Mohan’s music. I enter 5 minutes after the song ends and miss a couple of scenes.)
Veer is escorted to prison by Zaara’s fiancé (Manoj Bajpai) and is asked to stay there under a false identity if he wants Zaara to stay happy. Veer, realising that Zaara’s happiness is more important than his parents’ survival, assents, and becomes known as Qaidi no.786. Thus Veer, leaving his aging parents for the vultures, resigns to his custom-made fate. But how could Veer-Zaara be a Wholesome Family Entertainer if Zaara showed Veer the finger and decided to live with Manoj? She moves to India, to Veer’s village, takes care of his parents, becomes haggard, and learns some Punjabi.
Back to the present, Rani, the lawyer, hearing this poignant tale, vows to give Qaidi no.786 back his identity (and thus show that benevolence is not patented by India). Fighting the best lawyer around wasn’t much of a problem for her. She brought Zaara to the court and virtually closed the case. But before the judge used his mallet, he granted them 5 minutes for a reunion song and another 5 for Veer’s parting speech (the dialogue sequence he needs to justify the awards he gets). After the speech, the audience and the judge stand-up and applaud. The grey-haired Veer goes back home with the haggard-and-Punjabised Zaara and live happily ever after.
(My friend shakes me up and tells me it’s finally over. I sigh, relieved. I walk out of the theatre, wiser- never watch a movie without getting reviews from like-minded sources.)
The saving grace of the movie was Rani Mukerji, who looked gorgeous. But she, along with Amitabh, Boman Irani, Kirron Kher, and Anupam Kher, is wasted in a nugatory role. Shahrukh does in Veer-Zaara what he’s been doing since time immemorial. Preity wasn’t challenged either. If I was asked to name one person who did his job well, I would
I would name the make-up man. Old people did look old (unlike Kkekta Kkkapoor’s serials, where old age means spectacles, a streak of white paint at the sideburns, and the odd cough).
How Veer-Zaara is different from other films of its genre?
Yash Chopra claimed Veer-Zaara would be different from other love stories. It actually was. The flashback started from 22 years behind instead of the customary ‘aaj se bees saal pehle’.
*These views are strictly personal. Please do not come to my room shouting anti-Akshay slogans.
3 comments:
Why, the film is not a recent release; when did you see it?
Now, I've seen part of the movie and have to say that it sucks. Shah Rukh Khan obviously couldn't get himself to act as an old man. He looked horrible. While the make-up may have been good, the speech and the body language of both Preity and Shah Rukh (as old people) left a lot to be desired.
The film, in my opinion, never took off; the outrageously illogical plot kept it firmly anchored to the ground.
I fully agree with the review having been one of the hapless victims. I was squirming in my seat halfway but SRK's neigh in the courtroom was the last straw. I could have wrung the Judge's ruddy neck. One think I learnt though - that the court room could be used as a pulpit for delivering impassioned sermons.
I knew I was in a minority when i saw women wringing water out of their hankies and the number of awards the flick won.Well, to each his own!
Raj- You said it! We are a pathetic minority. In fact, I was beaten up by my classmates for speaking against Shahrukh. It's sacrilrege here.
Post a Comment