Courtesy:
IndiaFM
Friday,
September
21,
2007
Yash
Chopra
has
been
playing
on-screen
cupid
for
many.
An
eternal
lover,
he
is
rightly
called
as
the
'King
of
Romance'.
And
his
feather-light
romantic
Veer-Zaara
stands
as
a
testimony
for
the
same!
One
can
relieve
the
making
of
this
classic
in
the
form
of
an
exclusive
collector's
edition
called
'They
said
it.." based
on
the
making
of
the
film
Veer-Zaara.
The
book
contains
testimonials
from
almost
every
member
of
the
film"s
cast
and
crew.
Following
are
excerpts
of
some
of
his
experiences
from
the
making
of
Veer-Zaara
that
Yash
Chopra
shares
in
the
book
'They
said
it.."
One
day,
Adi
narrated
3
scenes
to
me.
Entirely
new
and
different.
These
had
me
gripped
at
once
and
I
had
immediately
decided
that
this
was
my
next
film..
And
Adi
started
work
on
this
new
story..
The
scenes
were
the
opening
scenes
of
Veer
–
Zaara.
There
was
never
any
alternative
for
either
Shahrukh
or
Rani.
The
casting
of
“Zaara" needed
some
thinking..
I
needed
an
actress
who
had
an
image
completely
different
from
Zaara"s
character.
She
had
to
surprise
the
audiences.
Instinctively,
I
wanted
to
try
the
unexpected.
Preity
had
earlier
played
modern,
largely
western
looking
characters,
and
had
a
youthful
image.
I
decided
to
mould
her
into
the
character.
We
worked
on
tests
with
makeup
costumes,
jewellery..
the
Zaara
look
that
I
had
in
mind.
And
after
3
tests,
I
knew
I
had
my
“Zaara".
The
story
and
screenplay
had
a
wide
span
of
22
years
and
creation
of
distinct
ambiences.
One
–
the
Punjab
in
Indian,
and
the
other
–
the
Punjab
now
in
Pakistan.
It
was
a
very
intense
and
emotional
romance,
but
beyond
borders
and
boundaries..
rooted
in
traditions.
For
me,
it
was
a
tribute
to
Punjab,
my
homeland.
The
cross
border
romance,
while
set
in
the
two
different
countries
had
to
have
cinematic
contrasts
but
at
the
same
time,
the
underlying
sentiment
was
that
we
are
the
same.
We
speak
the
same
language;
we
imbibed
the
same
culture,
values
and
emotions.
A
fact
exemplified
in
the
song
“Aisa
des
hai
mera".
One
of
the
biggest
challenges
in
making
Veer
–
Zaara
was
the
creation
of
its
music.
I
heard
a
lot
of
leading
composers
of
today,
and,
though,
all
are
so
talented,
I
found
something
missing,
something
did
not
click.
I
needed
music
with
old
world
charm,
tunes
that
traversed
a
22
year
time
span,
across
two
distinct
ambiences
of
India
and
Pakistan,
but
most
of
all
a
very
soulful
and
yet
Indian
feel
to
it.
One
day,
Sanjeev
Kohli,
the
CEO
of
Yash
Raj
Films,
was
traveling
with
me
in
my
car
and
I
was
expressing
to
him
my
dilemma
of
not
getting
the
right
composer
for
my
film.
He
then
mentioned
to
me
that
he
had
various
tapes
of
unutilized
tunes
left
behind
by
his
father,
the
late
composer,
Madan
Mohan.
Sanjeev
had
worked
with
me
for
many
years
but
he
had
never
mentioned
this
to
me
before.
He
worked
for
a
month
or
two
and
played
us
30
tunes.
We
immediately
reacted
to
8
of
these
tunes
and
Adi
and
I
knew
we
were
on
the
right
track.
The
film
remained
untitled
till
the
very
end.
This
became
a
cause
for
speculation
by
all.
Various
titles
were
thought
of.
Including
“Yeh
Kahaan
Aa
Gaye
Hum".
We
even
did
a
song
adapted
to
this,
“Yeh
Hum
Aa
Gaye
Hain
Kahaan",
based
on
Madanji"s
tune
[this
song
was
finally
dropped
from
the
film
as
it
was
retarding
the
pace
of
the
court
room
scenes.
A
very
difficult
decision
as
it
was
one
of
our
favourite
tunes!!]
We
decided
that
we
title
the
film
when
we
saw
it
in
its
entirety.
And
when
we
did,
we
all
felt
that
we
had
created
a
new
love
legend,
and
thus
in
the
tradition
of
“Heer
Ranjha",
“Laila
Majnu",
“Sohni
Mahiwal",
there
could
be
no
better
title
than
“Veer
–
Zaara".
The
two
legendary
lovers.
I
received
a
lot
of
appreciation
for
Veer
–
Zaara
a
lot
of
awards,
including
the
National
Award.
But
I
knew
I
had
touched
chords
in
film
lovers
all
over
the
globe
when
I
saw
tears
in
German
eyes
at
the
Berlin
film
festival,
sobbing
Dutch
people
at
a
festival
in
Amsterdam,
and
mod
frenzy
when
the
French
version
was
premiered
in
France.
Veer
–
Zaara
did
well
all
over
the
globe,
but
even
more
so
in
foreign
territories.
I
will
always
be
grateful
to
my
fans
who
have
been
so
lavish
in
their
praise
and
to
the
entire
team
who
joined
me
in
this
effort.
In
my
heart,
I
know
I
gave
this
film
my
best,
a
tribute
to
Punjab
and
most
of
all
to
humanity..
Love
transcends
all
borders,
and
for
me
love
and
romance
will
always
prevail.