Thread by @bluemagicboxes

Hello. This is a thread analyzing the feminist undertones in the telling of Veer Zaara by a humanities student who really needs to figure out better things to do with her degree.

*cracks knuckles*

I will begin with the scene that captured my attention in this regards, and probably the most direct conversation in the film regarding masculinity and femininity: The conversation between Zaara and her mother upon Zaara's return to Pakistan and in the midst of her wedding prep.

The scene begins with Zaara's inquiry regarding the relationship between her parents and the kind of love her father held for her mother. More precisely, if he would die for her. Assuming that these are the concerns of a soon-to-be-wife, Zaara's mother warns her against attaching

any great expectations from her husband to be, insisting that there is a difference between feminine and masculine expressions of love. Men do not submit themselves in love the way women do. Male love is, in fact, a response to this submission - it is reflected in his

fulfillment of his duties to provide the woman an ideal life. If Zaara submits herself to Shiraz, Shiraz will respond by fulfilling all his duties towards her.
(Shiraz is the fiance)
(And most of us have heard this in some form or another (gender roles)).

However, the film then goes on to prove this binary false. Throughout the film, Zaara's love for Veer is realized in her fulfillment of duties for Veer, and Veer's love is realized is symbolized in his submission to Zaara.

Veer is introduced to us on screen as an Indian air-force officer in action - saving people's lives (including Zaara's). An introduction as "masculine" as can be; a brave warrior trained to go to war for his nation state. And it is exactly this identity that Veer has to, and does

abandon in an effort to unite with Zaara. Veer resigns from his position in the air force to cross the border upon Zaara's calling. That is his first act of sacrifice and submission.

Upon arrival Veer meets with the obstacles all of us saw coming: Religion, state and family.

Interestingly, the one negotiating with Veer in this process is Zaara's mother, and not the patriarch who decided on her fate. Zaara's father suffers from a cardiac arrest and is not able enough to negotiate. In the weakness of the patriarch, the mantle passes on to the mother.

And while despite her empathy, her arguments are patriarchal - Zaara being closely tied to honour - Veer's response to those arguments are affected by the negotiator. He starts his conversation with "Maayein hukm deti hain," before yielding to her, and ending his conversation

with "Merey des ki hur maa aap jaisi hoti hai". Thus upon arrival, Veer does not engage with a battle of wills with the woman's patriarch (think DDLJ) but accepts defeat to motherhood specifically - a distinctly feminine trait.

However, Veer's greatest moment of sacrifice occurs in the moment he chooses to the sign the confessional document framing him to be an Indian spy. Trained as a warrior, Veer's greatest heroic moment in the narrative emerges not as a conqueror but as a captive.

Between choosing to struggle for his agency and submitting his life in the name of the woman he loves, Veer chooses the latter. Submission, which was meant to be the feminine expression of love, becomes the distinct symbol of Veer's love for Zaara.

Zaara's expression of love for Veer emerges differently. When Saamya, Veer's lawyer in Pakistan, visits Veer's hometown in India twenty two years later in an effort to gather evidence that may prove that he has been framed in a case of false identity, she finds Zaara there.

Zaara now lives in the village with her close friend Shabbo. And Shabbo informs Saamya that upon hearing of Veer's (apparent) death, Zaara decided to break off her marriage, something her father assisted her in doing. Thus, while Veer had yielded to motherhood, Zaara defies her

husband and bends the patriarch to her will. She then moves to India, defying the role both states assigned for her. She defies Pakistan by refusing to be its honour and protecting its private sphere, and defies India by demanding acceptance and working in the public sphere.

The work in public sphere that was a role meant for Veer as inheritance from his family. Interestingly, when Saamya enters Zaara's premises, the camera pans to show girls of varying ages who are, by the looks of it, in an informal educational setting. This harks back to Zaara's

conversation with Veer's uncle when she first visited the village. Zaara tells Veer's uncle, Chauhdry, the patriarch responsible for the village, that his village lacks a school for girls and progress cannot occur in an environment that ignores its women. Thus, not only Zaara

fulfills what were Veer's public duties, but her vision of progress include female empowerment. And Zaara accomplishes all of this as just Zaara - abandoning the name of any male being attached to her. This is evident by her surprise when Saamya recognizes refers to her by her

full name. Thus while everyone, even Veer, sees Zaara as "izzat" and "amanat", Zaara Hayat Khan transforms into just Zaara, the woman fulfilling Veer's duties, who defies state and family while empowering Veer's village and the women residing in it.

Zaara's love for Veer is then symbolized by her fulfillment of public duties for Veer.

In effect, overturning the binary that Zaara's mother had put in place regarding feminine and masculine expressions of love.

This brings me to the third protagonist of the film - Saamya, Veer's lawyer in Pakistan. Saamya is able to get Veer to talk, something that no lawyer had accomplished, through her ability to empathize - the film again empowers a trait widely considered "feminine".

"You called me by my name," he tells her when she asks him the reason behind trusting her.
But more importantly, Saamya, like Zaara stands in defiance to the social structures around her. Saamya, a woman, is the inheritor to her patriarch's principles and public duties that she

abides by and fulfills. In a scene with Zakir Ahmed, the prosecuting lawyer of the state, where she is reminded that being a woman is a disadvantage to her, she announces her will to fulfill her public duties through her principles and not through favours being granted by the men

who manipulate the system of justice. In the same scene she tells Zakir Ahmed that no one - not even the Pakistani state can prevent her from ensuring that Veer returns to him home in India. This harks back to a similar claim Veer made to Zaara in the first half of the film,

about defying state forces in an effort to take her with him. But while doesn't act on the claim and instead chooses to yield to motherhood, Saamya's claim marks the beginning of her struggle against the state - represented by a male prosecuting lawyer in the courtroom.

Saamya, in then the hero engaged in the battle against the dragon, that is the Pakistani state, fighting to rescue Veer who is captured in a fortified prison. She wins this battle, with no sexual rewards on the table, as is usually the motivation for male heroes in these tales.

After her victory, the male prosecutor announces his retirement from the profession, citing that the future of the state is represented by Saamya's principles that do not indulge in state taught hatred but fight for a more harmonious future based on truth and empathy.

Thus, just like Zaara's school in the Indian village, the progress of Pakistan is again embodied by a woman. The future appears to be female.

The film manages to achieve all of this without emasculating Veer in the process. Instead, Veer stands dignified in contrast to the orthodoxy of religion, family and state being demonstrated through the male of ego of Shiraz, Zaara's father and Zakir Ahmed. Their antagonism

disguised as talk of male honour and nationalist allegiances appears petty in front of Veer's submission in a form of love that clearly transcend these limitations. The film thus, imagines a different form of masculinity; one that is symbolized in love, patience and

perseverance instead of egoistic aggression in the name of honour.