Zubeidaa [2001]

Rating: 7/10

I had put off watching this movie for years (Watched it in 2011) because i had an impression of it being an overdone drama. How wrong my impression was!!

And why did I decide to watch the movie at all? I loved the music, especially the songs "So Gaye hain", "Dheeme Dheeme", "Pyaara sa gaon", and "Mehndi hai rachnewali". I had some free time in my hands, and when I found the movie available on Youtube, I decided to watch it.. And my impressions were proved to be wrong.
  
'Zubeidaa' is a story based on the life of the writer's mother Zubeida Begum. This movie is the third installment of the trilogy of films, written by Mohammed, that were centralized around Indian Muslim women, and were directed by director Shyam Benegal.

Film critic and filmmaker Khalid Mohammed pays homage to his mother through the movie, as he never got to know his mother in real life. Khalid was a small boy when his mother died. When he grew up, he searched everywhere he could to find snapshots of his mother's life, and to quench his thirst to know more about her. In this movie, he recounts the trials he had to go through, and shares the story that emerged in front of him when he started digging.

The cast was superbly chosen. Manoj Bajpai displays his brilliant acting skills. Rekha and Karishma have also given great performances - Rekha as the gracious and majestic queen, and Karishma as the young, vivacious princess. A special mention of Lilette Dubey should also be made, as she did a fine piece of acting too.

Apart from being a true story, the movie shows how both types of marriages (a love marriage and an arranged marriage) can fail. Just like everything else under the sky, both kinds of marriages have their advantages and disadvantages. And here we get to see the disadvantages.

Having a very oppressive father and a weak mother character, Zubeida was forced into an arranged marriage. The marriage ends in a divorce just after her son Riyaz is born. Then she meets Maharaja Vijayendra Singh of Fatehpur and falls for him. The problem is that the Maharaja already has one wife, he his a hindu while Zubeida is a muslim, and she has to leave her son behind with her parents to join him as his second wife.

The story is handled well except for one detail. Riyaz follows through the story like a journalist would, not as a son would research his mother's life. His character is not given depth. He is only a prop.

 I loved the movie!! I loved the cast, the music, the sets, and the story (of course!). It's definitely worth a watch.

The Real Zubeida Begum