Zubeidaa (2001)

Zubeida, an aspiring Muslim actress, marries a Hindu prince to become his second wife. Her tumultuous relationship with her husband, and her inner demons lead her to a decision which has fatal consequences for them all.

Director:

Shyam Benegal

Writers:

Khalid Mohamed (original story and screenplay), Javed Siddiqui (dialogue)

Stars:

Karisma Kapoor, Rekha, Manoj Bajpayee

3 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karisma Kapoor	...	Zubeida
Rekha	...	Mandira Devi
Manoj Bajpayee	...	Raja Vijendra Singh (as Manoj Bajpai)
Rajit Kapoor	...	Riyaz Masud (as Rajit Kapur)
Surekha Sikri	...	Fayyazi (as Surekha Sikri-Rege)
Amrish Puri	...	Suleiman Seth
Farida Jalal	...	Mammo
Shakti Kapoor	...	Dance Master Hiralal
Lillete Dubey	...	Rose Davenport
Ravi Jhankal	...	Girivar Singh
Smriti Mishra	...	Sardari Begum
S.M. Zaheer	...	Sajid Masud
Harish Patel	...	Nandlal Seth
Seema Bhargava
Parzan Dastur	...	Young Riyaz (as Parzaan Dastur)

Storyline

The film begins with Riyaz (Rajat Kapoor), Zubeida's son setting out to research her life, and to meet the people who knew her. The story is thus told in the form of memories/reminiscences. Zubeida is a Muslim actress, who's career aspirations are thwarted by her film-producer father (Puri) who looks down upon a woman in acting. He arranges her marriage to her friend's son, but that breaks up after the birth of her son. Zubeida is now back at her parent's home, sad and depressed. Rose (Lilette Dubey) her father's mistress tries to cheer-up Zubeida by taking her out. On one of these outings, Zubeida meets Prince Vijayendra (Victor) Singh of Fatehpur (Bajpai). Quite taken with her, the Prince woos and marries her. Zubeida, now the 2nd wife of a Hindu prince, leaves her son behind with her mother (Sikri) and comes to live at Fatehpur. Here she meets the much older Mandira Devi (Rekha) the Prince's first wife, learns about the etiquette of being a Rani, and of the duties her husband has ...

---

Plot Keywords:

hindu | actress | muslim | etiquette | indian pakistani | 

---

Taglines:

The Story of a Princess

---

Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Urdu Rajasthani

Release Date:

19 January 2001 (India)

Filming Locations:

Film City, Goregaon, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

F.K.R. Productions, Shyam Benegal Sahayadri Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The jewelry worn by Karisma Kapoor and Rekha in the film actually belonged to the Jaipur royal family. Both actresses were told to be very careful when wearing it.

---

Goofs

The events of the movie are happening in the 1950s, around the time of decolonization, yet the prince Victor appears to be flying a 1982 model of Cessna 172.

---

Connections

Follows Mammo (1994)

---

Soundtracks

"Mehndi Hai Rachnewaali"
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar
Music by A.R. Rahman
Performed by Alka Yagnik

User Reviews

Majestic

Zubeidaa is the third of an unofficial trilogy of films created by Shyam Benegal in collaboration with writer Khalid Mohamed, but this colourful two and a half-hour film is a remarkable epic in its own right, worthy of being compared to Visconti at his finest and most extravagant.

The story of Zubeidaa commences with the flamboyant flourish of her red scarf falling out of the heavens onto her grave at her burial in 1982, and the remainder of the story of her life being told in flashback as it is uncovered by the son of her first marriage Riyad Masud (Rajit Kapoor), now a film journalist. The principal object of the search that will reveal much to him is a missing reel of 1952 film that Zubeidaa (Karisma Kapoor) completed before her father refused to let her undertake a career in the movies, physically removing her from the set. Her father has other ideas for his daughter, arranging a marriage to the son of a Pakistani businessman in order to form a closer alliance between the two families.

When the marriage eventually fails, despite the birth of a son, Zubeidaa's rather more free and outgoing friend Rose introduces Zubeidaa to a wealthy Raja Vijendra Singh, known as Victor, who falls madly in love with her beauty. Despite already being married to the more exotic and refined Mandira Devi (Rekha), and despite being a Muslim while Victor is a Hindu, Zubeidaa agrees to become the Maharaja's Junior Wife. The arrangement is inevitably not without difficulties, Zubeidaa feeling threatened by Victor's brother and increasingly marginalised as Victor embarks upon an election campaign to retain authority and represent the best interests of the people of his region, taking Mandy Didi (as she is known to Zubeidaa) along with him, the whole affair ultimately resulting in tragedy.

Zubeidaa is a vast and epic movie, colourfully filmed in widescreen with an eye for the opulence of the period, appropriately almost taking on the appearance of a near-fairytale for Zubeidaa's marriage to a wealthy Maharaja, breaking into lively song and dance arrangements with an impressive score by A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire). There is much more to the film however than it being a beautifully photographed fantasy, the story dealing with Benegal's characteristic treatment of the diversity of Indian culture, politics, religion and tradition, showing where it clashes and complements in all its infinite variety and beauty.