‘Veer-Zaara’: An Ode to Undivided India

You might not remember, but Veer-Zaara (2004) doesn’t open with a song or dialogue. Instead, you hear the director’s soothing voice as the camera pans over blossoming fields, beautiful waterfalls, lush forests, sunrises, and sunsets. “There’s love all around,” he narrates. You could almost be anywhere. Nature doesn’t see borders or limitations — only humans do — and it persists, through time immemorial.

Famed filmmaker Yash Chopra had always yearned for his homeland. Born in Lahore, then in undivided Punjab, India, his family left after Partition and he joined his brother in Bombay to work in the movie business. Through many of his films, you see shadows of his desires, longing, and saudade — whether it is someone trying to find their better half (Dil To Pagal Hai) or not getting to be with their love (Silsila, Lamhe). But it was Veer-Zaara, a Hindi film about an Indian squadron leader who falls in love with a Pakistani heiress — the highest-grossing of the year — that was his most explicit ode to loss and that desire for reunion.