Zubeida

Zubeida Biography

Zubeida’s full name is Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir. She was the first heroine of an Indian talkie. The movie was none other than Alam Ara, released in 1931. Devdas (1937) and Meri Jaan are her other noted movies and she was a star during 1930’s. She was an actress as well as a singing star on Indian screen. Her mother Fatima Begum was the first female Indian director. She later directed many movies for her daughter and both have shared the same screen for many movies also. She fell in love with Maharaj Narsingir Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur and eventually ended her career after the marriage. She was at the peak of the career when got married.

Born in 1911 as a princess at Surat, she debut silver screen at the age of 12 with the movie, Kohinoor. Later she became supporting actress on big screen in the 1920’s. She belonged to a royal family and was the daughter of Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III of Sachin and Fatima Begum. Her sisters - Sultana and Shehzadi were actress and she has also worked with them. Kalyan Khajina and Veer Abhimanyu are a few successful movies where she worked with Sultana. With late 1920’s she became an established actress playing lead roles. A few of her earliest hits include - Bulbul-e-Paristan, Balidaan, Kala Chor, Laila Majnu, Nanand Bhojai, Sacrifice, Devdasi and Desh Ka Dushman. All these were silent movies.

With the first talkie, she became an established actress of Indian cinema. She was paired opposite Master Vithal in India’s first talking movie, Alam Ara. Her association with Jal Merchant was noted during the decades of 1930’s and 1940’s. Her kissing scenes in Zarina became spark to many debates, at a time when onscreen kissing was taboo to Indian society. Nirdosh Abla was her last film and sge got settled with her family life.

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Updated: January 28, 2014