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.
Shahrukh Khan gets praise from unexpected quarter
Women rule the Bollywood roost this Friday
Censor Board barrier between cinema and audience: Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal receives Indira Gandhi Integration Award
