Film review

Veer-Zaara: Endorsing the divide?

Indeed it is a typical Hindi movie. Music by Madan Mohan recreated by Sanjeev Kohli, humour in the first hour, the dancing and its unmatched cinematography and casting par excellence give the expected narcotic effect that most Hindi movies are supposed to give its audience.

Having read a few reviews on this movie it is obvious that the 3 hour cinematic creation in all its sweetness has indeed blinded some film-goers (if not all) to the subtle endorsements of the Indo-Pakistan differences which the movie claims to challenge through this surreal love affair of Squadron Leader Veer Prathap Singh and Zaara Hayaat Khaan.

The story itself is unreal. Only in such fictitious creations could we see such undying love across boarders spanning over 22 years. Well one could argue that this is one in a million love story. However, Zaara is introduced to us as a lazy, over-sleeping girl who depends on her maid for all her comforts.

She is a pampered child whose turning point in life is the death of her Indian grandmother which gives her the strength to take a trip to India alone to fulfil her dying wish. However, even during her trip we see her as the Zaara who is unable to manage her affairs, let alone plait her own hair. Zaara in fact grows old in the story but never really grows in her character to make it real.

Veer on the other hand is a trained military man and like any solider he has been trained to hate his enemy. But for plot purposes let us allow him to fall in love with someone from across the border. Well, it is a one in a million chance to risk every thing he holds dear to come to Pakistan.

Very unlike a trained air force person. One cannot expect the kind of reality which we have seen in Sathya or "Three Deewarein" in a love story like Veer Zaara, but I would need justification for the money I pay and the 3 hours I spent on my own free will to be entertained.

My greatest concern is about the Pakistan characters. Our hero (Shah Rukh Khan) is Indian. However, all the positive Pakistani characters are women starting from Zaara, her maid, her mother and Saamiya the lawyer who appears for Veer. They have a sense of goodness which makes our eyes swell. But take for instance Zaara's father, her fiance Raza or the leading lawyer who Saamiya challenges in court.

Are Zaara's and Raza's fathers politicians for plot purposes or is the film maker trying to make a subtle point about Pakistani politics? Is it necessary for Raza to scheme and put Veer behind bars for 22 years to ensure the success of his marriage to Zaara, even after Veer has made the supreme sacrifice?

Is Raza so unsure of his Pakistani woman or is it once again stereotyping the Pakistani as the villain? Only our Indian hero Veer is sacrificing, obeying the elders and ends up in jail until a human rights lawyer comes to defend his case.

It is interesting to ponder whether the film maker is afraid to make a bold statement about Pakistani men being fair and just, for the fear of being rejected by the Indian audience or whether he is really endorsing the popular beliefs in this strained Indo-Pakistan relationships. However, after 3 hours of celluloid make believe, I am disappointed that it lacked reality which even Chalte Chalte managed to contain.

Maleec Calyaneratne