Veer-Zaara was touted as Yash Chopra's comeback and another Diwali release for Shah Rukh Khan, and one of the slew of films that saw the leading ladies of the time, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta in the same frame.

Just like Jab Tak Hai Jaan, most of Veer-Zaara (including its title) had been kept under wraps although at one point, it was nearly called Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum as a tribute to an evergreen song from Chopra's underrated Silsila.

Veer-Zaara, a cross-border romance, was one of Chopra-SRK's better collaborations, purely because it had an undeniable old world feel about it that oozed charm, and a stellar star cast to boot, comprising of heavyweights like Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Manoj Bajpai Divya Dutta, Kirron Kher, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani in small albeit important cameos.

The film was originally titled 'Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum', after the song from 'Silsila' (1981), but Yash Chopra felt that 'Veer-Zaara' went better with the epic mood of the film.

'Veer-Zaara' is one of the few Indian movies to officially release its original tunes of songs and background music. Yash Chopra used late composer Madan Mohan's tunes for the film, which he felt suited the era that was being depicted on screen. Out of the hundreds of tunes in Mohan's archives, 35 were tested to see if they would fit the mood of the film and eleven were selected by Aditya Chopra.

The character of Saamiya Siddiqui played by Rani Mukerji is based on Pakistani human rights activist and well-known lawyer Asma Jehangir. The character of Saamiya Siddiqui was initially offered to Aishwarya Rai but she had refused it. Yash Chopra cast Preity Zinta because she was known to portray westernized roles, and he wanted someone who could easily transform into a character who was the complete opposite.

Karan Johar had designed all of Shah Rukh Khan's costumes in the film. The prison scenes were all shot in one day. Shah Rukh Khan had to wear a wig to portray the aged Veer in those scenes. Anupam Kher stars with his wife Kiron Kher in this film, although they don't share the same frame.