Veer-Zaara Again (with pics!)

Hi everyone!  I finally found some downloadable pics from Veer-Zaara so you could see them and see where I got the idea for my Zaara doll.  I found LOTS of pics, so prepare yourself. :)

This is one of the posters for the movie.

After saving Zaara from a bus accident, Veer helps Zaara take the ashes of her Bebe (like a nanny or governess) to the place where her ancestors' ashes were spread.  On the way, she gets to see some different places in his country, India.  Here they're at a fair together.

The cinematography is so lush and rich...it makes you want to travel to India!

This is a picture of Zaara in the outfit I would love to have custom-made for my Zaara doll.  Her outfit is so bright and unique, and she wears it during my favorite song from the movie, "Lodi".

A still from the movie...this takes place during "Lodi", a funny and entertaining musical number.

Zaara and Veer together on the eve of Zaara's wedding to the son of one of her father's political colleagues.

 

Here are some stills from one of the most touching scenes of the movie.   I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say that Veer and Zaara make a very selfless decision, thinking of others before themselves.  If it makes you tear up to see men cry, have a box of tissues on hand for this scene!! 

Some shots of Veer and Zaara:

Cast of Characters: 

Zaara Hayaat Khan:  a beautiful, spirited young Pakistani woman who travels to India to fullfill her Bebe's dying wish of spreading her ashes in Kiritpur with her ancestors. On her way there, she is in a bus accident and is rescued by a young Indian Air Force Officer.  Her life will never be the same.

Veer Pratap Singh:  A young Indian man, part of the Indian Air Force, who rescues Zaara.  After an initial misunderstanding, he finds himself hopelessly drawn to her, and asks her to spend one day with him in India. His life will be just as affected as Zaara's.

Maati (pictured here with Zaara):  Veer's loving but feisty aunt who has raised him like a son.  She and her husband become dear to Zaara after they welcome her in their home with open arms.

Chaudhary Sumer Singh:  Veer's sweet teddy bear of an uncle who's raised Veer as his son.  Chaudhary and Maati are the founders of their village, respected by everyone.  He is taken with Zaara and hopes Veer will marry her.  Zaara also inspires Chaudhary to start a high school for girls in their village.  

Saamiya Siddiqui:  The beautiful young attorney determined to discover the mystery of "Prisoner 786", even though he hasn't spoken in the 22 years he's been there.  She is doing this not only for him, but for women everywhere, trying to break into the masculine world of law. 

There are other characters, too, but I didn't find good pics of them.  This is just giving you a taste, anyway. :)

Veer and Zaara-reunited after 22 years.

Veer gives his touching speech in court.

If you can't tell, I really enjoyed this movie.  There was one song that was very sensual that I didn't care for (it's called "Main Ya Hain").  And you have to watch this movie in the right frame of mind.  Remember that Bollywood movies are always musicals, and they have a somewhat different style than our American musicals.  Some things might be considered corny in our culture, and some things are a bit over dramatic (like a close up on a face with suspenseful "duh duh DUH" music, which I may have mentioned before).  And in case anyone's forgotten, this movie is in Hindi with English subtitles.  So if you're not into foreign language movies with subtitles, this is not the film for you. :) 

The other thing to be aware of is that the characters' cultural beliefs, practices and rituals are displayed as well.  There's nothing obscene or anything.  I just wanted to give my sisters in Christ who are following my blog a "head's up" that this movie is not from a Christian world view.  Both Veer and Zaara at times doubt the decisions of the god they follow.  Zaara questions why she is being punished by her god when she's never done anything wrong in her life (which I find rather humorous...I've never yet met a person who hasn't messed up, even slightly, at least once in their life.  I think the idea is that she's never done anything major). :)  Veer has an almost fatalistic, "there god goes messing with me again" attitude at one point in the movie.

What I loved most about this movie was the character of Veer.  He portrays the type of selfless, unconditional love for Zaara that I think every girl dreams of.  It's the type of love Christ has for us, love that made Him willingly die for the sins of the world, so that we could be free.  Love can be so shallow in our world today.  It's nice to see this sacrificial, selfless love displayed in a movie.  

I also appreciated what this movie did for me.  Ever since 9/11, it's so easy to put all Muslims, Pakistanis, or Sikhs into one big lump and be suspicious of everyone.  This gave me a small glimpse into the East Indian culture.  It put faces and names to the people and places I've heard about.  I don't agree with the Muslim religion, but I am to show Christ's love to everyone, whether I agree with them or not.  This movie served as a good reminder of that.   To be quite honest, I find studying the cultures of other countries fascinating.  I think we can understand others more when we get an idea of their upbringing and their world view.   

I hope you guys will take the time to check this movie out.  I know I said this in my previous blog about my doll, but I'll say it again, just in case.  It's on Netflix and on the instant play option.

So, what do you think?  Did I capture a little bit of Zaara in my doll?  :)  I'd love to hear your comments.

Veer-Zaara and My Newest Doll

Something amazing happened two weeks ago.  My husband, who'd been spending his spare time trying out some Bollywood movies on Netflix instant play, came home from his morning job with a huge bouquet of roses and carnations.  Shortly afterwards, when he went in to take his shower, he started by scrubbing the bathtub.  The next morning, he unloaded my dishwasher. 

Now, let me clarify here.  I have a very sweet, loving husband.  But he's a very busy, tired husband.  He does get me flowers every once in a while, although it has been several months since the last bouquet.  I guess I'm trying to say that the flowers weren't a total shocker.  The bathtub and the dishwasher were, though.  As sweet as my husband is, he's completely oblivious to things around the house.

This can work to my advantage, as being a mom of 3 girls 6 and under is not very conducive to a tidy house...at least for me! :}  But the disadvantage is that he also doesn't notice when I might need a hand with things.  Quite honestly, one of the most special ways my husband can show his love for me is to help with the housework.

When I asked him to explain this strange phenomenon, he said that 2 of the Bollywood movies he'd watched inspired him to be a better husband and made him appreciate me more.  All I was thinking was, Okay, I've GOT to see these movies!  And then maybe buy them and play them randomly throughout the year!!

So, we watched them together.  The first one was called "Wake Up, Sid".  I enjoyed it as a once or twice kind of movie.  It did definitely help me understand my husband a little bit more. :)  There were a few things in it I didn't care for.

The next one was called "Veer-Zaara".  This one, I absolutely LOVED!!  I'll admit, it took a while to get used to a serious movie with random song and dance numbers interspersed (and speaking of the songs, I loved the music and the guy's voice, but I really didn't care for the girl's voice).  By halfway thru the movie, though, you're totally hooked.  The story is so sweet (have a box of tissues on hand if you decide to watch it).  There's one song I didn't care for as much.  It's pretty sensual in parts, plus she's basically going crazy, seeing this guy everywhere when he's not really there.  And a word of warning:  You have to be in the right mood when you watch this movie!!  If you're in an analytical or completely realistic mood, it will seem like one big joke.  In fact, it actually surprised me that my husband liked it so much (he even teared up when we were watching it together!).  It's the type of movie that he and my brother would usually make into an MST3K commentary (Mystery Science Theater 3000, for those of you wondering what that means).

I really loved Veer-Zaara.  I even found the songs on Rhapsody.com and added them to my playlist.  It was neat to see the strong character of Veer.  It also touched me how much my husband looked up to his strength and was inspired to have that sort of love.

Okay, so for those of you wondering what on earth all this has to do with anything, :)  I started playing around with the idea of trying to make a Zaara doll (Zaara is the name of the other main character in the movie, the girl that Veer loves).  As I might have mentioned before, I'm giving dolls to my daughters and my 2 nieces around their ages for Christmas this year.  I had an extra Madame Alexander Friends 4 Life Doll that I ended up not needing for them after all.  She just happened to have the right skin and close to the right eye color for Zaara. 

I'd sold some things on ebay, so I had a little money to play around with.  On ebay, I was able to find an Indian Sari, sold by ebay seller Carpatina.  It wasn't the same color as anything Zaara wore in the movie, but it gave the idea.  I also found a fantastic wig, originally for Blythe dolls.  The ebay seller shopoholican has a great selection of wigs for Blythe dolls, and they fit AG, Gotz, and Madame Alexander dolls too.  They're a good tight fit, but they end up going down the forhead a little too far, so you have to work with them.  And I think if you got one with bangs they'd have to be trimmed.  I first got the idea of using Blythe wigs from stephenswodadancer of YouTube.  So, thanks again, Sarah! :)


The particular wig I got probably wouldn't be good for play because you can't brush it (it's a permed-look with gel in it), but some of the straighter wigs would be better.  For a collector, though, these wigs are great!  


So, without further ado, here are some pics of Zaara.  She's a work in progress.  I'd still like to add some of her jewels and things.  The necklace she's wearing in the picture at the top of my post is a necklace from Wal-Mart.  Eventually, I'd like to use the alchemy option on etsy.com and have someone design one of her actual outfits from the movie.  I'd most likely try for her Lodi outfit because it's so colorful and interesting.      

I also found these really pretty little jeweled boxes that are just the right size for Zaara and have an East Indian flair to them (see pic below).  They open up to store trinkets and treasures, and were only 25 cents each at my local thrift store! :)  The silver jingle bell anklet is one I found on eBay.  The silver anklet Zaara wears in the movie plays an important part.   I'm hoping to make this shorter so that Zaara can wear it around her ankle. 

Here are some pics of my Gotz doll Emily and my Alexander Girlz doll Maggie with Zaara's wig on, just so you can get an idea of how the wig fits them (sorry, I don't have any American Girl dolls without hair to try it on).

Emily, feeling a little odd without her blonde locks...

...and Maggie, seeing how she would look with a perm.  She decided she prefers her straighter hair. 

Hope you guys enjoyed the post!  I'll give you updates as I modify her look.  I'll also try to find some downloadable pics from Veer-Zaara to put on my blog.  And I would totally recommend watching it on Netflix if you have it.  Who knows?  Maybe you'll get your dishwasher unloaded, too. :)