Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir (1911 – 21 September 1988) was an Indian actress. Early in her career, she starred in a number of

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s, which were followed by a breakthrough in the first Indian talkie ''

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Wazir Muhammad K ...

'' (1931). Her other notable works include

Sagar Movietone Sagar Movietone also Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions was an Indian film production company involved in the making of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 1 ...

's ''Meri Jaan'' (1931) and ''

Devdas ''Devdas'' (, transliterated as ''Dēbôdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden childhood love ...

'' (1937).

Early life

Born in 1911 in

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

city of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

in western

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Zubeida was the daughter of Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III of Sachin State and

Fatma Begum Fatma Begum (1892 1983) was an Indian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is known as ''The First Female Film Director in Indian Cinema''. Within four years, she went on to write, produce and direct many films. She launched her ...

. She had two sisters, Sultana and Shehzadi, both actresses. She was among the few girls who entered films as a teenager during a time when it was not considered a honourable profession for girls from respectable families. Nazir, Asjad. "Lighting Up the Big Screen."''Eastern Eye'', 26 July 2013, pp. 21-33.

Career

Zubeida was only 12 when she made her debut in ''Kohinoor'', which was a talkie at the time. Through the 1920s she made infrequent appearances on screen along with Sultana who, by then, had become one of Indian cinema's loveliest and popular leading ladies. One of the films to star the two sisters was ''Kalyan Khajina'' in 1924. They had also shared the screen in Zubeida's first blockbuster, ''Veer Abhimanyu'' released two years earlier in 1922, that also had their mother, Fatma Begum, playing an important role. AlamAraStill

In 1925, Zubeida had nine releases, amongst them ''Kala Chor'', ''

Devdasi In India, a devadasi is a female artist who is dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication takes place in a ceremony that is somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

'' and ''Desh Ka Dushman''. A year later she starred in her mother's film, ''Bulbul-e-Paristan''. In 1927, she acted in '' Laila Majnu'', ''Nanand Bhojai'' and Naval Gandhi's ''

Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

'' which were very successful movies at the time. The latter, based on

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's 'Balidan', also starred Sulochana Devi,

Master Vithal Master Vithal or Vithal (1906-1969) was an actor in Indian cinema, best known as the hero of India's first talkie ''Alam Ara'' (1931) and of Marathi and Hindi silent stunt films (silent films had cue cards in a particular language), which gav ...

and Jal Khambatta. It condemned the age-old custom of animal sacrifice in certain

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

temples in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, India. Members of the Indian Cinematograph Committee were wowed by this "excellent and truly Indian film". Its

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an members recommended that it be sent abroad for screening. She also worked in many silent films. Zubeida starred in a string of silent films before ''

'' proved to be the turning point in her career and was her biggest hit. She suddenly was highly in demand and got wages high above the standards for a woman in the film industry at that time. Through the '30s and early '40s she made a hit team with Jal Merchant and starred in several successful historical epic films playing characters like

Subhadra Subhadra (, ) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is a princess from the Yadava clan and the sister of Krishna and Balarama. Subhadra married Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers and had a son named Abhimanyu. Sub ...

Uttara Uttara, which means "north" in Sanskrit and many other South Asian languages, may refer to: Places *Uttara (town), Uttara, a neighbourhood north of Dhaka, Bangladesh *Uttara Export Processing Zone, Bangladesh *Uttara East Thana *Uttara West Thana ...

and

Draupadi Draupadi (), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the central heroine of the Indian epic poetry, ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. In the epic, she is the princess of Panchala Kingdom, who later becomes the empress of K ...

. She was also successful in portraying emotions with films such as Ezra Mir's ''Zarina'', and ''Shatir'' which had her playing a vibrant, volatile circus girl whose kisses scorched the screen and sparked heated debates on censorship. Zubeida was one of the few actresses to make a successful transition from the silent era to the talkies and natak. In 1934 she set up Mahalakshmi Movietone with

Nanubhai Vakil Nanubhai Vakil (23 May 1902 – 29 December 1980) was a Hindi and Gujarati film director. He directed the first Gujarati feature film, in 1932, with a biopic on the saint Narsinh Mehta, '' Narsinh Mehta'', whose cast included the actress Meh ...

and had box-office bonanzas in ''Gul-e-Sonobar'' and ''Rasik-e-Laila''. She continued to appear in one or two films a year from 1949 to 1953. ''Nirdosh Abla'' was her last film.

Personal life

Born in a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family, Zubeida converted to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

to marry Maharaj Narsingir Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. She was the mother of Humayun Dhanrajgir and Dur-e-shahwar Dhanrajgir, who is the mother of model

Rhea Pillai Rhea Pillai is an Indian model known for her works in television and advertising. In 2003, she was honored as the "Woman of the Year", along with Raveena Tandon, Anoushka Shankar and Ritu Beri, on International Women's Day for social service. ...

Death

Zubeida spent her last years at the family's Bombay palace in 1987, Dhanraj Mahal. She died on 21 September 1988, aged 76 or 77, in BombayWith Rani Zubeida Dharajgir's death:Curtain comes down on silent movie
''

The Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

'' 17 October 1988 and was laid to rest at Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Marg, Apollo Bunder, Colaba, south

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Filmography

* ''Gul-e-Bakavali'' (1924) * ''Manorama'' (1924) * '' Prithvi Vallabh'' (1924) * ''Sati Sardarba'' (1924) * ''Ram Sarovar'' (1924) * ''Kala Chor'' (1925) * ''Devadasi'' (1925) * ''Indrasabha'' (1925) * ''Ra Navghan'' (1925) * ''Rambha of Rajnagar'' (1925) * ''Deshna Dushman'' (1925) * ''Yashodevi'' (1925) * ''Khandani Khavis'' (1925) * ''Sati Simantini'' (1925) * ''Bulbule Paristan'' (1926) * ''Kashmeera'' (1926) * ''Raja Bhoj'' (1926) * ''Gulezaar'' (1926) * ''Indrajal'' (1926) * ''Sati Menadevi'' (1926) * ''Laila Majnu'' (1927) * ''Nanand Bhojai'' (1927) * '' Balidan'' (1927) * ''Chamakti Chanda'' (1928) * ''Samrat Ashok'' (1928) * ''Golden Gang'' (1928) * ''Heer Ranjha'' (1928) * ''Kanakatara'' (1929) * ''Mahasundar'' (1929) * ''Milan Dinar'' (1929) * ''Shahi Chor'' (1929) * ''Jai Bharati'' (1929) * ''Devadasi'' (1930) * ''Garva Khandan'' (1930) * ''Joban Na Jadu'' (1930) * ''Veer Rajput'' (1930) * ''Sinh No Panja'' (1930) * ''Meethi Churi'' (1931) * ''Diwani Duniya'' (1931) * ''Roop Sundari'' (1931) * ''Hoor-E-Misar'' (1931) * ''Karmano Kaher'' (1931) * ''Nadira'' (1931) * ''

'' (1931) * ''Meri Jaan'' (1931) * ''Veer Abhimanyu'' (1931) * ''Meerabai'' (1932) * ''Subhadra Haran'' (1932) * ''Zarina'' (1932) * ''Harijan'' (1933) * ''Bulbule Punjab'' (1933) * ''Pandav Kaurav'' (1933) * ''Mahabharat'' (1933) * ''Gul Sanobar'' (1934) * ''Nanand Bhojai'' (1934) * ''Radha Mohan/Nand Ke Lala'' (1934) * ''Rasik-e-Laila'' (1934) * ''Seva Sadan'' (1934) * ''Birbal Ki Beti'' (1935) * ''Gulshane Alam'' (1935) * ''Mr. and Mrs. Bombay'' (1936) * ''Aurat Ki Zindagi'' (1937) * ''Kiski Pyari'' (1937) * ''

'' (1937) * ''Nirdosh Abla'' (1949) * ''Awāra'' (1951): Young Rita

References

External links

* *
India Heritage:Performing Arts:Cinema In India:Personalities:''Silent Screen Stars''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubeida 1911 births 1988 deaths Indian silent film actresses Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema 20th-century Indian actresses Gujarati actresses Actresses from Gujarat Actresses in Gujarati cinema Converts to Hinduism from Islam People from Surat