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Yash Raj Films’ blockbuster Veer-Zaara marks 20 years of its release on November 12. Directed by Yash Chopra and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukerji in lead roles, the romantic drama is considered a classic. To mark its anniversary, actor Divya Dutta, who played the role of Shabbo, Preity’s friend and house help, recalls the shoot days, camaraderie with co-stars, and much more.
In an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Divya shares that working in the Yash Chopra directorial was “euphoric”. “Veer Zara has been a landmark film in my career. It is surreal how it happened to me. Since childhood, I wanted to be a Yash Chopra heroine, it was so deeply embedded in my heart. I was doing a show called Kadam, Aditya Chopra saw it and I got a call from YRF that Adi and Yash uncle wanted to meet me. The story was mesmerising, today’s generation needs to learn this depth and patience of love, which social media has eradicated,” she says.
Ask her if there were any doubts of being typecast while nodding to an elderly traditional role and the actor answers, “I had a mixed feeling. I wanted to do this film badly, but I didn’t want to be stamped with similar roles. It was a big production and one keeps getting similar roles unless you break it. Adi read my face and said, ‘It’s not an ordinary role, it’s special and you will be remembered for it’. I came home and discussed it with my mom. She told me I needed to add an X factor so people noticed me. That became a mantra for me. The world got to know me through Veer Zaara”. She added that she was Yash and Aditya Chopra’s first choice for the role. “There was no one else, they were sure they wanted me, it was me who was thinking, ‘Kya karein?’ (What to do?)”
She further says Aditya got her to perfect her dialect. “I was so prepared. Adi would make me speak to people in London, Pakistan, and other places, to learn how they speak. I had to talk to the owner as well as the driver of a house. And then, people could relate to my character’s vocabulary so much,” Divya shares.
The Bhaag Milkha Bhaag actor especially mentions that working with her co-star Shah Rukh was truly amazing and he was a “delight” on the sets. “He will always be my most favourite co-star. He came to me on the first day and said, ‘Can I hear your dialect, I am hearing so much about it’. He asked me if he could borrow that and he used that line in a scene. He was also very protective of me. We shared a crazy laugh in one of the scenes. Every time I would get up from the charpai (cot) to enact a scene, the whole set-up used to fall. It fell on me completely once and Shah Rukh and I just couldn’t stop laughing. I will cherish these moments,” she recalls.
Veer-Zaara’s global re-release
On the occasion of the film’s 20th anniversary, Veer Zaara has re-released internationally on 600 screens. Celebrations with fans have been planned by YRF in 7 cities across the world including Toronto, New York City, Melbourne, cities in the UAE, Istanbul and Singapore. The re-release prints of Veer Zaara will include the iconic deleted song Yeh Hum Aa Gaye Hai Kahaan, for the first time.
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