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Zubeidaa is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Shyam Benegal and written by Khalid Mohammed. It stars Karisma Kapoor, Rekha, Manoj Bajpayee, Surekha Sikri, Rajit Kapoor, Lillete Dubey, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, and Shakti Kapoor. A.R. Rahman scored the background music and soundtrack.
Zubeidaa is the concluding chapter in a trilogy that began with Mammo (1994) and continued with Sardari Begum (1996). The film is based on the life of the ill-fated actress Zubeida Begum, who married Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur and was the mother of the film's writer, Khalid Mohamed.
The film garnered the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and won Karisma Kapoor a Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics). It is regarded by many critics as Kapoor's best performance (alongside Fiza where she also played the title role). The film was highly acclaimed and is regarded as of one of Benegal's best works blurring the lines of commercial and parallel cinema.
Heartbroken Zubeidaa then meets Maharaja Vijayendra Singh of Fatehpur. Vijayendra is already married to Maharani Mandira Devi and is the father of two children. Nevertheless, he falls in love with Zubeidaa, and they get married, but there is continuous turmoil in their relationship. Riyaz learns through Zubeidaa's journal that though she loved Vijayendra dearly, she was unable to follow the stifling customs of the palace. She was also uncomfortable because of her brother-in-law Uday Singh's sexual advances towards her and his demands of her to have an extramarital affair with him.
Riyaz travels to Fatehpur and asks many people about his mother. However, all except Mandira, whom Zubeidaa called "Mandy Didi," either deny that his mother ever existed or say that she was a horrible woman who seduced their king and caused his death in a plane crash.
On reading the journal, Riyaz finds out that Vijayendra had become a politician and was about to go to Delhi for an important meeting. Zubeidaa felt frustrated that whenever her husband needed help, he looked to Mandira for support, and at the last minute, she insisted that only she would accompany him to the meeting. The plane crashes, killing Zubeidaa and Vijayendra. It is indicated in an introspective scene that Zubeidaa becomes afraid of losing Vijayendra, since she loves him so dearly and thus, decides to kill both herself and him even though she knew it was wrong. She felt that if they cannot be together in this life, they could be together in afterlife for eternity.
In the end, Riyaz gets the missing tape of his mother's only film, from Mandira. The movie ends with him finally getting to watch the film with his grandmother shedding tears of happiness, watching Zubeidaa dancing happily as the spirited soul that she truly was.
| 1 | "Dheeme Dheeme" | Kavita Krishnamurthy |
| 2 | "Main Albeli" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sukhwinder Singh |
| 3 | "Mehndi Hai Rachnewali" | Alka Yagnik |
| 4 | "So Gaye Hain" | Lata Mangeshkar |
| 5 | "Hai Na" | Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan |
| 6 | "Pyaara Sa Gaon" | Lata Mangeshkar |
| 7 | "So Gaye Hain" | Lata Mangeshkar, Chorus |
| 8 | "Chhodo More Baiyyan" | Richa Sharma |
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