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.
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