Zubeidaa

Zubeida, an aspiring Muslim actress, marries a Hindu prince to become his second wife. Her tumultuous relationship with her husband, and her inner demons lead her to a decision which has fatal consequences for them all.

Director:

 Shyam Benegal

Writers:

 Khalid Mohamed (original story and screenplay),Javed Siddiqui (dialogue) (as Javed Siddique)

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Karisma Kapoor	...	Zubeida
	Rekha	...	Mandira Devi
	Manoj Bajpayee	...	Raja Vijendra Singh (as Manoj Bajpai)
	Rajit Kapoor	...	Riyaz Masud (as Rajit Kapur)
	Surekha Sikri	...	Fayyazi (as Surekha Sikri-Rege)
	Amrish Puri	...	Suleiman Seth
	Farida Jalal	...	Mammo
	Shakti Kapoor	...	Dance Master Hiralal
	Lillete Dubey	...	Rose Davenport
	Ravi Jhankal	...	Girivar Singh
	Smriti Mishra	...	Sardari Begum
	S.M. Zaheer	...	Sajid Masud
	Harish Patel	...	Nandlal Seth
	Seema Bhargava
	Parzan Dastur	...	Young Riyaz (as Parzaan Dastur)

Storyline

The film begins with Riyaz (Rajat Kapoor), Zubeida's son setting out to research her life, and to meet the people who knew her. The story is thus told in the form of memories/reminiscences. Zubeida is a Muslim actress, who's career aspirations are thwarted by her film-producer father (Puri) who looks down upon a woman in acting. He arranges her marriage to her friend's son, but that breaks up after the birth of her son. Zubeida is now back at her parent's home, sad and depressed. Rose (Lilette Dubey) her father's mistress tries to cheer-up Zubeida by taking her out. On one of these outings, Zubeida meets Prince Vijayendra (Victor) Singh of Fatehpur (Bajpai). Quite taken with her, the Prince woos and marries her. Zubeida, now the 2nd wife of a Hindu prince, leaves her son behind with her mother (Sikri) and comes to live at Fatehpur. Here she meets the much older Mandira Devi (Rekha) the Prince's first wife, learns about the etiquette of being a Rani, and of the duties her husband has ...