Mumbai, September 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee has looked back fondly on his experience of working in the iconic film Veer-Zaara, recalling the warmth shown to him by legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra during the brief shoot.
Bajpayee spoke to IANS alongside actor Divya Dutta and director Ben Rekhi while promoting their film Last Man in Tower in Mumbai’s Andheri West.
Recalling his time on the sets of Veer-Zaara, Bajpayee said he spent just three days shooting for the film — one day at Film City and two days in Amritsar — where he filmed two or three sequences.
“I enjoyed myself while working on that film. For three days I was there on the sets of the film. One day at Film City and two days in Amritsar. So, it was quite good,” he said.
For Bajpayee, the biggest attraction was the opportunity to work under Yash Chopra, a filmmaker he had long wanted to collaborate with. He recalled Chopra being candid with him about the kind of films he made.
“He told me very honestly that he doesn’t make films for actors like me. And he was very candid about it. I didn’t mind it at all because there’s somebody that honest, and a man of that stature. You just love him for his honesty,” Bajpayee recalled.
The actor said Chopra never made promises about the role but that he was delighted simply to perform under his direction. He also remembered the personal warmth extended to him during the shoot, particularly in Amritsar.
“He just treated me with so much warmth,” Bajpayee said, recalling how Chopra organised an evening gathering and introduced him as a guest, ensuring everyone joined the party.
Bajpayee played a brief but significant role in Veer-Zaara, the 2004 romantic drama starring Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. The film follows the love story of an Indian man and a Pakistani woman against the backdrop of the tensions between the two countries.
In the film, Bajpayee’s character plays a key role in having Shah Rukh Khan’s character arrested on charges of espionage.
The actor said he had not expected much from the role at the time, given the scale of the production, the presence of a superstar and the huge anticipation surrounding the film.
“I was expecting nothing from the role because it was a Yash Chopra film, there was a superstar in the film, and it was a highly anticipated film, the eyeballs were there,” he said.
Over the years, however, the character went on to leave a lasting impression on audiences and became a memorable part of the film’s place in Indian pop culture.
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