Well guys, I got the chance to watch the movie last night at an exclusive venue in the UK where the print had arrived.

Gotta admit, I was blown away. Yash Chopra's returned in a big way. It took me a little while to gel with the style as it's more serious than previous YRF films (namely MSK, MDK, Dil To Pagal Hai). At the same time though, a film like this needs to be treated more seriously. It'l remind audiences of his Kabhi Kabhi days. Without giving away too much, the narrative unfurls in 2 major flashbacks and then the present day (it seems to be a common narrative device these days with the Chopra Johars). Cinematography was superb. The screenplay was strong but had minor quibbles. Shahrukh was passable, Preity's taken another huge leap and Rani's strong in the portions she has. Ultimately, Chopra's the star of the show. It may not so much click with younger audiences, the love story's very mature and handled with great sensitivity. Either way, you should love it. I really wanna go into more depth but can't without giving away spoilers.

PS, the print was recorded in SR and not 5.1. I had to double check with the projectionist who confirmed this. Kinda sucked given the score was awesome.

I was a ghost projectionist for 4 months for this huge cinema in Birmingham, UK. I'm still pretty close to them so when the print arrived yesterday, they laced it up and called me down to watch it.

Oh, and also, I did not see a preview for Karan Johar's Kaal at the beginning as it's being reported. But then again, I also watched the film in SR and not 5.1 which is how the print had been recorded. I can't wait till people have seen, I've got loads that I wanna write but won't otherwise I'll give it all away.

The posters have DD and DTS logos on them. Maybe there was a batch erroneously made without DD?

Yeah I know. It was something that used to do my head in when I was working in Projection. All (well most,) Hindi films claim to have a DTS soundtrack when in most theatres they are playing the DD soundtrack burnt onto the print. The DTS soundtrack is a separate CD supplied with the print designed to be played on a DTS reader. And what do these guys do? Never bother to ever send the DTS soundtrack out with the prints. I'm sure if they'd gone to the efforts of making one they'd make sure it was ditsributed and played.

But back to the thread, has anyone managed to catch the previews that were screening tonight? Thoughts??

Managed to watch the first 30 mins of it ... until the showing got cancelled due to the second reel being loaded incorrectly. Got to watch 'Aisa desh hai mera' upside down and backwards before they stopped the showing.

Will try to see it in full tomorrow ...

With coloring of MEA, Indians have proven that they are ahead of the World. They can get DTS sound without a DTS disc and/ or without a DTS reader. They also can give you DD 5.1 sound using a system that's not DD compatible. Most people believe it or they don't care.

i went last night at the premire at the i max the first have is good but the best is after intermission esp near the ending its a total classic

MAJOR SPOILERS!
MAJOR SPOILERS!
MAJOR SPOILERS!












The lights went down..and i was expecting the usual yashrajfilms logo..

but to my surprise..there was tiny little writing in the middle of the screen....

it didnt hit me until like 5 seconds later that i was just about to watch the SWADES THEATRICAL TRAILOR!!!

i can't really explain what i saw..coz it was amazing..it had the guys voice-over that does the american trailors lol..it was awesome..
i remember they showed a shot from space of the satellite system but honestly the graphics seemed dodgy..

then they show shahrukhan surprising his mother n stuff..then they show him saying that hes going now..to america..and hes taking his mum with him..she doesnt seem like she wants to go though..then the voice comes back and he sez something like..then...he went through .. a change... and they showed the scene where he is on that raft with all the people..then they showed some scenes of gayatri..it was an ok trailer..nothing really exciting..but good..

anyhow..then the yashrajfilms logo came on...
and the film started to roll before my eyes....

honestly...the first song...kyun hawa...the beginning of it...omg the visuals are so beautiful...i was so relaxedd..and you get so relaxed and happy through the song..then at the end of the song you see veer running to zaara..and it zooms in...but just before they reach each other and hug....u hear a bullet fly...and then you see zaara fall....then out of nowhere..a scared..slightly bearded..long haired..scruffy looking veer awakens from his terrible nightmare...

rani mukherjee is a new upcoming lawyer..and her first case happens to be veer pratap singhs case..he sees light in her..as she calls him by his real name..and speaks to her ..after 22 years of silence...he tells her his story..why he is there..how he got there etc..

preitys introduction begins with the song 'Hum to bhai jaise hai' and is a nice number...showing how she a really happy boppy sort of hum bieng..and her marriage has just been arranged..her dadi falls sick..and is about to pass away...but she speaks to zaara..and her final wish is for her ashes to be placed in india..zaara takes it upon herself to deliver her ashes to her destination........zaara while in india has a bus crash...shah rukh khan saves her...and has a "moment" with her in mid air....its so romantic..

then he realises she needs help getting somewhere..and since he has just received his chooti from work..decides to help her on her way...and they fulfil zaaras dadis final wish.......then zaara asks him what he wants and he can ask for anything...veer asks her to stay in india for one more day...meet her family..show her around...and she..after a stutter agrees....

Then its the 'Aisa desh hai mera' song which is beautiful..and makes me miss punjab even more...im going there next month wohooo hehehehe...

then we are introduced to Veer's "mum and dad" which we find out later isnt really his mum and dad but his aunty and uncle..veer's parents passed away already...
the uncle and aunty are played brilliantly by hema malini and amitabh bachchan..especially by the latter...upto this point in the movie its a bit moving..and a bit sad..but amitabh brings life to the screen..with of course his presence..friendliness..and of course punjabiness..

the 'Lodi' song is up next and is a treat..it is mainly on Amitabh and Hema..

After the song..Veer realises his feelings for Zaara..and goes with her to drop her to the station..at the station...we are introduced to the character played by Manoj Bajpai..this whole sequence i found tremendous..because he finds out that manoj is zaara's fiance..he tells manoj that he does love zaara in front of them both...and the song 'Do Pal' amazinggggggggg its so emotionallllllllllll ..zaara realises her feelings for veer aswell in this whole station sequence...
i think this is where the intermission comes..im not sure...
ill leave the film description at the intermission coz i dont want to spoil it too much for the people who have not seen it..

the second half starts of well...then drops pace a little...as the court proceedings begin..but then picks up again towards the end...

there is no Abhishek or Uday as once speculated...

and the person that has made little appearances in other yashraj movies..forgot his name..but he was speculated here to be the pilot that is with shahrukh..well thats not him...he's not the pilot..but he is in the movie..he plays rani's sidekick lawyer..

and Anupam Kher isnt the judge that decides veer's fate..he is the evil lawyer that is versing rani in the court case...anupam has never lost a case..ever..and rani..well this is her first case...

supporting cast are first rate..from kiron kher as preitys mom..to shabo..dont know her real name but she is preitys friend ? to amitabh,hema,boman irani..and even hrithik roshan..lol na just kidding hrithik isnt in it..

some scenes in the second half that i really liked...include..
*when rani goes to see zaara..and zaara is all like ok and stuff...but as soon as she says...VEER PRATAP SINGH...............the expression on her face...aurgh!!!!! brilliant acting..in just one small expression...
*when they show what zaara has been doing in the 22 years.....this is done in a conversation between rani and shabo(dont know real name)...brings a tear to my eye...
*first day in court....they show the courtroom..and pan across the lawyers and jury and judge etc...and everyone is like argueing and serious and stuff...and then they show veer ...and he is building a paper airplane ...lol its so cute...not a care in the world..
*when veer quits his airforce job..to go and get zaara..
*when veer and zaara cross the border in the end as husband and wife
*when veer goes to see zaara in pakistan at the temple..and she runs to him in front of everyone .. her parents .. her fiance..her friends..(que:Aya tere dar par)
'Main Yahan Hoon' ..'Aya tere dar par' and 'tere liye' follow in the second half in that particular order... 'tere liye'..is sweet..as they see each other after a long time..they go through the moments they had in the movie..like in a flashback..and see each other when they were younger............before zaara even enters....veer knows...he can sense her very presence..

The cinematography is first rate...punjab never looked so good..same with pakistan..ive never seen pakistan before...

Shahrukh delivers a steady controlled performance...he does very well as the older veer and he is his usual charming funny sorta guy as the younger veer...preity does really well...and outperforms rani a little...even though rani is brilliant...she gets a bit too repetitive..like in her expressions and acting and stuff...but i guess zaara's character was probably more extensive then rani's...supporting cast is good..

the movie was a bit long...but it didnt seem like it was long..especially in the first half..even though the interval comes almost close to 2 hours into the movie...2nd half of the movie does get a little bit slower....and thats probably the only thing i didnt like..even though it does gather momentum towards the end.....

ill be honest...i didnt really like the music that much when i bought the audio cd...but now..with the visualisations...and emotions that come along with im...im totally in love with it...kyun hawa..and do pal..are stuck in my head at the moment...

if anyone has any querys or questions...feel free to ask....

i rate this movie 8/10

Vj bhai, u dont have to write the same thing twice for conveying your opinion .

lol..damn!! i thought i could control peoples opinions if i posted it twice..make them like it more than they actually do!! damn!!

lol naa..i accidently posted it twice..but i dont know how to get rid of it...

http://www.boxofficeindia.com/

Veer Zaara-Yash Chopra must be a very happy man as the critics have not liked the film which means the public is going to love it. The reports coming in prove this,the public is loving the film.

If someone described this film to me, I'd probably hate it. It's mushy, illogical, riddled with cliches, has a dose of patriotic jingoism and has silly things thunder and lightning when someone does something dramatic. In a nutshell, it's everything that Hindi films are laughed at for. It undoes everything that films like Dil Chahta Hai, Lagaan, or even Kal Ho Naa Ho have done for Bollywood and brings it all back to square one.

Unfortunately (because I wish I hated this film), the film does what it set out to do. It pulls shamelessly at the audience's emotions and ultimately evokes the desired effect.

So yeah...it's a terrible movie which I couldn't help liking.

Cinematography - It's Anil Mehta's worst effort ever. I was quite appalled - in fact I believe certain portions like the helicopter sequences were so bad that they couldn't possibly have been filmed by Anil Mehta. Probably some incompetent second unit. Bollywood has come a long way in cinematography with films like Khakee, Mission Kashmir, Asoka and even B movies like Qayamat - so Veer Zara's Manmohan Singh-like camerawork is unacceptable to me. Btw, to the uninitiated, Manmohan Singh is Yash Chopra's previous resident cinematographer.
He was terrible.

Sound - Good effort to use sync sound but I can't really critique it as the Dolby Digital cinema that I watched it in played the film in Dolby SR for some reason.

Special effects - Some were pretty ok, but I think Chopra tried to cut some costs by not creating the effects at full film resolution - so the whole print changes colour and resolution whenever a composited effect is coming up. This cheapo SFX glitch was a hallmark of Bollywood films from 1996 (Indian/Hindustani starring Kamal Hassan) to around 2000). I thought that problem was over but thanks to Chopra who'd rather pay millions to SRK and AB and the rest of the overpaid 'stars' than provide good technical support, we have it again in a major Bollywood film.

Music - I thought it was between ok and mediocre. Yeah yeah...i know its Madan Mohan. Do we have an obligation to revere anything by anyone who is old or dead? He's no A.R. Rahman or Ismail Darbar for sure.

Acting - Acting was decent all round - though Zinta was highly unconvincing as a 50 something year old. SRK hammed here and there but got away with it. Rani was a pleasure to watch.

While the film works on the emotional level very well, it's like saying that a porno works very well on the sexual level. I believe that if you want to make a melodrama, go all out and use technical and aesthetic devices as rhetorical elements creatively and eloquently to persuade an idea to the audience. It shouldn't be a half-baked effort. I'd advice Chopra to pick up some pointers from Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

At the end of the day, the film is a third-rate effort that will inevitably work at the box office because of an infallible formula, star power and rigorous studio backed publicity.

And did I say? - I kinda liked it

Aryan, dude, how you compare with budha chopra's last effort, DTPH that was a blockbuster! A lot of people did not like it!!

I wont compare it to Aditya's or Johar's work at all, Aditya has exhausted himself after DDLJ!

Other YRF as distributors , imho, has been crap that worked with senseless masses, occasionaly!

Imo this movie spells the downward spiral for Yash Chopra and perhaps Yash-Raj Films. I thought after HUM TUM these guys were finally beginning to get out of the rut they had ridden themselves into. But VZ takes the bullshit cake, hands down and DTPH, MOHABBATEIN notwithstanding....

The silver lining is Aditya Chopra can still write occassionally touching lines, make searing comments and touch a chord or two here and there. Catch some of the lines Manoj Bajpai says, pretty intense.

But to emerge victorious he has to do the following things double-quick :

1. Disassociate completely from his senile father
2. Write a movie sans songs, sans love, sans anything mush is associated with.
3. Drop Shahrukh Khan from the actor list.....

....maybe, just an outside chance he might be able to recreate the DDLJ magic (as far as originality is concerned).