Veer-Zaara
from the Other Side
By Ras Hafiz Siddiqui
CA
The recent "Peace
Momentum" or apparent thaw in relations between
India and Pakistan cannot just be left to leaders
and governments. It is making its way into the
lives of ordinary people too and the entertainment
medium of films is certainly leading the way.
The most recent
of these efforts is Bollywood's portrayal of a
cross-border India-Pakistan love relationship
in "Veer-Zaara," a film which incorporates some
of the most commercially successful actors and
actresses in the Indian film industry from both
the current and the recent generation. Shah Rukh
Khan and Preity Zinta along with Rani Mukerji
are some of the top box office performers of today
while Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini represent
the cream of the past that just cannot be forgotten.
And assisted by the voice of the ageless Lata,
how could this film lose? But it is not just the
Veer-Zaara cast or the topic that persuaded me
to visit the Grand Surjit Cineplex theatre in
Aligarh, India last month.
It was both the company and a sense of curiosity.
I had not visited South Asia or a movie theatre
there in over 15 years. Since this was a personal
"nostalgia tour", it was the search of both the
family roots and identity (assisted by the aftermath
of 9/11) that drove me to take an extended trip
to both India and Pakistan during November and
December, 2004. I have lived in the US for over
30 years now and very much wanted to connect with
the past. Watching movies in the Karachi and Dacca
of our youth during the 60's and early 70's always
brings back fond memories. But the darker days
of the 80's in Pakistan had dampened much of that
enthusiasm. So this experience at the Surjit in
India was an attempt to reunite with a somewhat
lost past.
That entire families come to watch movies in Indian
theatres is wonderful and one is reminded here
of our own past in Pakistan. Movies are big business
in India and much attention is paid to make sure
that viewers are comfortable and feel secure in
theatres. The Waheed Murads, Ali-Zebs and Nadeems
of our yesteryear are alive and well in today's
India (in a much larger form) as Shah Rukh, Preity,
Amitabh and Hema Malini along with numerous others
have such a dedicated following that that it even
makes fans here in America seem tame in comparison.
Muslim women clad in chadars and veils/burqas
(Aligarh has a huge Muslim presence), along with
sarees, and Hindu women sporting bindi's and sindoor
and some more westernized in jeans, and men in
a variety of attire too, the viewing audience
of Veer-Zaara in Aligarh was indeed an interfaith
affair. Maybe Indians are getting used to the
idea of "this friendship thing" as are many Pakistanis,
I thought, but such ideals have a price associated
with them and one is yet to discover who will
have to pay what or how much? In the mean time
as I glanced over at the audience both before
and after the movie, Veer-Zaara seems to have
been received quite well.
Or was it that in India today the Shahrukh Khan-Preity
Zinta combo has such a strong fan base that any
movie they star in automatically becomes palatable?
In a potentially powerful story, an Indian man
Veer Pratap Singh (Shahrukh Khan) and a Pakistani
woman Zaara Hayaat Khan (Preity Zinta) try to
defy the odds in this Romeo and Juliet style cross
border relationship. But it is the sheer determination
of a Pakistani female lawyer Saamiya Siddiqui
(played by Rani Mukerji who brings the complicated
lives of the lovebirds into focus) that captures
the more serious viewers' attention. Add to that
the colorful appearances of Amitabh Bachchan and
Hema Malini and the mother figure now patented
by Kiron Kher and one could easily expect a blockbuster.
Unfortunately this Yash Chopra film left a little
to be desired in the editing department. It seems
to have reached the cinemas in too much of a hurry
in order to meet some kind of deadline. The cloth
and the tailoring are all correct but the final
stitching could have used some more work. One
does not have to be political to either appreciate
or reject this movie. The same may even be true
of the message that it is trying to send out to
the people of India and Pakistan who could sure
use some peace amongst their governments. So let
me just add here by stating that viewing Veer-Zaara
in Aligarh was a delight. Not just because Aligarh
has a special place in the lives of South Asia's
Muslims who are very much present on both sides
of the border. But the real positive news is that
bridges of understanding are finally being allowed
to be established.
To close, the two high points of the movie are
the courtroom defense scene and the sensual aspect
added in the very beginning by the very pretty
Preity Zinta. Preity is at her best here aided
by Lata Mangeshkar's voice and the late Madan
Mohan's music. "Hum to jaisay hain, waisay hi
rahain gay," is the song which translates to "I/we
will never change". One can only hope that this
song, no matter how beautifully sung, does not
remain a lasting commentary on India-Pakistan
affairs.
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