Directed by the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, the 2004 romantic drama Veer-Zaara featured Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta in the titular roles of the Indian Air Force officer Veer Pratap Singh and Pakistani free-spirited girl Zaara Hayaat Khan. The cross-border romance won the hearts of the audiences, and turned out to be a blockbuster earning Rs 105 crore gross worldwide.
For the role of Veer Pratap Singh, Shah Rukh was the first choice of Yash Chopra and he wanted to repeat his successful pairing with Kajol, which became iconic after his son Aditya Chopra's blockbuster Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1995, and hence, Yash offered the role of Zaara to Kajol, but she refused it due to unknown reasons. Preity Zinta was his next choice.
Rani Mukerji played the supporting role of the Pakistani lawyer Saamiya Siddiqui in the film, but Yash Chopra wanted Aishwarya Rai for this role. At that time, Aishwarya was in a relationship with Salman and he had disrupted the filming of the 2003 romantic drama Chalte Chalte, which was headlined and produced by Shah Rukh. Due to Salman's continous interference, Aishwarya had to quit Chalte Chalte and Veer-Zaara, and she was replaced by Rani Mukerji in both the films.
Veer-Zaara remains the only Yash Raj Films in which Manoj Bajpayee has acted. Manoj was seen in the guest appearance as Raza Shirazi, Zaara's fiance, but before him, the role was first offered to Ajay Devgn, who rejected the role after his wief Kajol had refused playing Zaara. Yash went to Manoj after watching his brilliant performance in Pinjar.
Apart from Shah Rukh, Preity, Rani, and Manoj, Veer-Zaara had a hugely talented ensemble cast consisting of Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Divya Dutta, Anupam Kher, Tom Alter, Zohra Sehgal, Boman Irani, Manoj Bajpayee, and Kirron Kher in pivotal roles. The film won the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
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