In an exclusive chat with Screen, actress Divya Dutta, aka Shabbo from Veer Zaara, opens up about the Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta starrer as the film completes 20 years of its release.
Yash Raj Films’ blockbuster Veer-Zaara is completing 20 years of its release on November 12. Directed by Yash Chopra and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji in the lead roles, the romantic drama is considered a classic. On the occasion of its anniversary, actress Divya Dutta, who played Preeti’s friend and house help Shabbo, reminisced about the shooting days, camaraderie with co-stars and more.
In an exclusive chat with Screen, Divya reveals that working in the Yash Chopra-directed film was “exhilarating”. “Veer Zaara has been a landmark film in my career. How it happened to me is unreal. Since childhood I wanted to be Yash Chopra’s heroine, it was so deeply embedded in my heart. I was doing a show called Kadam, Aditya Chopra saw it and I got a call from YRF that Adi and Yash uncle want to meet me. The story was mesmerising, today’s generation needs to learn this depth of love and patience, which has been wiped out by social media,” she says.
When asked if there were any doubts about being typecast while nodding to an elderly traditional role and the actor replied, “I had mixed feelings. I wanted to do this film badly, but I didn’t want to be stuck with the same kind of roles. It was a big production and you keep getting the same kind of roles until you break through. That became the mantra for me. The world got to know me through Veer Zaara”. She added that she was Yash and Aditya Chopra’s first choice for the role. “There was no one else, they were sure they wanted me, it was me who was thinking, ‘Kya karein?’ (What to do?)” She adds that Aditya made her perfect her dialect. “I was all set. Adi would ask me to talk to people in London, Pakistan and other places, so that I could learn how they speak. I had to talk to a house owner as well as a driver. And then, people could relate to my character’s vocabulary a lot,” Divya said. The Bhaag Milkha Bhaag actor specifically mentioned that working with her co-star Shah Rukh was really amazing and he was “a delight” on the sets. “He will always be my favourite co-star. He came up to me on the first day and said, ‘Can I hear your dialect?’ He was also very protective of me. We had a lot of fun and laughter in one scene. Every time I got up from the cot to do a scene, the whole set would fall down. One time, it completely fell on me and Shah Rukh and I couldn’t stop laughing. I will cherish these moments,” she recalls. To mark the film’s 20th anniversary, Veer Zaara has been re-released on 600 screens internationally. YRF has planned celebrations with fans in 7 cities across the world including Toronto, New York City, Melbourne, cities in the UAE, Istanbul and Singapore. The re-released print of Veer Zaara will feature the iconic deleted song Yeh Hum Aa Gaye Hain Kahan for the first time.
