Bollywood: Chopra honoured at Marrakech film festival

By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 11/15/2005 | 6:10 pm

Marrakech---Yash Chopra, one of the hippest and trendiest directors of Indian cinema, was paid tribute on Monday at the Marrakech International Film Festival, currently held on Nov. 11-19 in Morocco's red city.


“I am happy to be here in Morocco. I am very touched to know that I am already famous in Morocco, though it is my first visit. Moroccans know all my films and that's impressive.” Chopra told Morocco Times.

On Sunday thousands of people gathered in Jamaa Lfna Square to watch Chopra's latest movie, Veer Zara.

The choice of screening Veer Zara in this popular square of Jamaa Lafna reflects the popularity of Indian cinema among the grassroots.

Veer-Zara is an immortal, beautifully narrated, love story. It's about Indian Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan), and Pakistani Zara Hayat Khan (Preity Zinta) who endured the suffering of their separation for 22 years.

The film tells the story of Veer who has been in jail for 22 years. Saamiya Siddiqui [Rani Mukerji], a Pakistani lawyer, comes to know about the man who is languished in a Pakistan jail cell for 22 years and has not spoken to anybody.

“Veer Zara's story is not about an impossible marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim, because there is no opposition in that. Rather, the movie is about the Indo-Pakistani friendship,” Chopra told Morocco Times.

Chopra is the only director of the older brigade of Indian filmmakers who has successfully moved with the times right from his first film Dhool ka Phool (1959) to his latest film Veer Zara (2004).

His picturesque, poetic images, often shot in Switzerland with melodious music, are charged with rich feeling, and in spite of all the gloss on screen, his films are more about life than lifestyle. He is reported to have the best musical sense of all filmmakers in the Hindi Film Industry today.