Veer-Zaara

When a man languishes in a prison of an enemy country for more than two decades, anyone would wonder what happened. The worst easily comes to mind. Despite Indian-Pakistan relations then, Veer-Zaara surprises us instead with a love story. It’s a rousing romance up to the standard filmmaker Yash Chopra has set, with the soaring melodies, the colorful shots, and the emotional performances from Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. However, it stands out from Chopra’s oeuvre because of the way it celebrates his birthplace of Punjab, the province that was split between India and Pakistan in his teenage years. Rather than pitting both nations against each other, Veer-Zaara instead celebrates the culture shared on both sides of the border.

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, rescues the stranded Zaara, a woman from Pakistan, following a bus accident, and their lives are forever bound.