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Zubeida (Romance Movie ,2001)  Starring
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Synopsis
Just as froth brims over from Bollywood’s mug of films, causing extreme fatigue to viewers’ minds and eyes, some sense and sensibility
in the form of Shyam Benegal’s Zubeida is set to refresh us in the last week of December.
Third in a three-part series, the first being Mammo, and the second Sardari Begum, Zubeida has been woven with a
commercial base with frequent artistic interventions.
A vibrant cast comprising Rekha, Karishma Kapoor and Manoj Bajpai with the support of fine performers like Amrish Puri, Surekha Sekri
and Lillette Dubey, Zubeida has Shyam Benegal’s deft handling, A R Rehman’s subtle music score and an intense narrative by
Khalid Mohamed.
Suleman Seth (Amrish Puri) a patriarch and authoritarian, has some fixed notions in life, which he will not change or bend for
anything. For him, they are virtues and cannot be compromised at the cost of anything, not even his own children.
Suleman’s mistress, Rose Davenport (Lillette Dubey), a dancer of Hindi films of 1940s and 50s is a cheerful soul. She is instrumental
in introducing Suleman’s daughter Zubeida (Karishma Kapoor) to Raja Virendra Singh (Manoj Bajpai).
The beautiful and lively Zubeida falls in love with the handsome polo playing Raja, and the prince reciprocates making promises of
love to her.
The twist in the royal tale comes when Raja’s first wife, Rani Mandira Devi (Rekha) comes into the picture. She shows strong
comprehension of a situation where she is losing her husband to a younger woman and she doesn’t exactly blame the woman. It is only
the skilled and dexterous Rekha who could handle the complex role of the Rani. Shyam Benegal is a connoisseur of artistes and chooses
Rekha who fits the role of a matured and dignified woman just right.
Zubeida’s love and the eventual relationship she shares with Raja Vijendra is doomed right from the start. There is an unknown vein
that runs in the film that tells you of the futility of Zubeida’s passion. It reminds us that passions are to burn out. But in this
tale, Zubeida burns out.
Long after Zubeida is gone, her now grown-up son Riyaz (Rajit Kapur), a young journalist, tries to discover the enigma that his mother
was. A mother he never knew. Riyaz has been brought up by his maternal grandmother Fayyazi Begum (Surekha Sekri), wife of the
difficult Suleman Seth whose one action changes the entire course of Zubeida’s life forever.
Essentially, a story of fairy tale rhapsodies and pains of a young princess, her life, her love, her death and finally her figurative
portrait through her son’s eyes is Zubeida’s principal plot. Khalid Mohamed’s story is full of passion and intensely dramatic
scenes that actors par excellence, under the guidance of Shyam Benegal, do full justice to. The film is worth waiting for.
Review
We are in an age where technology, speed and emotions as two-minute associations rule us.
We are in an age where communication chases us, yet we seem to be suffering from the gap of it. Therefore, when a filmmaker of Shyam
Benegal's caliber takes us back by fifty years, to the late 1940s and the 1950s, there is not only nostalgia, there's freshness and
relief. Zubeidaa acts as a balm for relaxation.
Stories of Zubeidaa being based on a real story are doing rounds. Real or not, Benegal's film stands to be realistic. There's a
real-life father figure in Suleman Seth (Amrish Puri). He is hot-tempered, possessive and conservative. He does not like his daughter
to be under arc lights when he himself is a B-grade film producer. He marries her off against her wishes to a man much older than her.
Zubeidaa gives birth to a boy, is in the process of accepting her fate when another disaster strikes. Her husband yells a talaq.
A chanced meeting with a handsome Rajput prince, Victor changes Zubeidaa's course in life. Her affections for the prince are well
reciprocated and he proposes marriage.
Marriage for this young mother doesn't spell complications and she leaves her toddler with her mother in search of love and happier
times with a prince.
The free-spirited Zubeidaa enters a palace, decorums, discipline, rules and royal customs. The palace comprises a Maharani, Zubeidaa's
lover and husband's first wife, Mandira Devi (Rekha). The Maharani acquaints the commoner Zubeidaa to royal rules and regulations.
But is Zubeidaa her true self in the palace? Do regal obligations stifle her?
One person who steals the show by her sheer presence is Rekha as the Maharani. In regal outfits, royal disposition, Rekha is
resplendent. Manoj Bajpai as her husband jars sometimes. As a prince, our Bihari Babu tries hard to do justice to his role
except occasional slips in the form of Bihari accented dialogues.
Surekha Sikri and Lillette Dubey give splendid performances. Rajat Kapur is the sutradhar through whose narrative the film's
story unfolds. The cinematography, locales, costumes, sets and music by A R Rehman are almost perfect.
And now, coming to the most important and pivotal character in the film, that of Karishma's, does she live up to Zubeidaa?
There is no doubt that Karishma Kapoor in and as Zubeidaa is a far cry from her days in Prem Qaidi, or even as the
dancing queen of David Dhawan-Govinda starrers, but the actress hasn't yet come of age. Karishma needs a little more of self-tuning.
Canvassing a role covering a wide range of emotions requires a certain versatility, which comes only with innate talent and
experience.
That is not to say that Karishma lacks in experience or in talent. Probably, essaying a role with such depth was a little too early
for a 25-year-old.