Zubeida Begum –The First Heroine Of Indian Talkie Cinema

Zubeida Begum was one of the leading stars of the silent era in the ’20s. She had worked with popular actors like Prithviraj Kapoor and Master Vithal. Being the daughter of Nawab of Sachin and Fatma Begum, India’s first woman film director, Zubeida Begum had imbibed gorgeous looks and a regal personality. She was a stunningly glamorous and competent actress.

 

She began her career in films at a tender age of 12 with the film Kohinoor (1923). Zubeida soon became a darling of the cine buffs and from 1925 till 1930 she was the undisputed ‘Star’ of the silent era. She gave several hit films like Kala Chor, Devdasi, and Desh Ka Dushman. In 1927, she did Bulbul-E-Paristan. This was an important film of her career as it was produced and directed by her mother Fatma Begum. The success of Bulbul-E-Paristan opened the floodgate for the mother-daughter combination ruling Bollywood for many years.

 

Each film that was made by Fatma Begum starred Zubeida and it was a hit film like Veer Abhimanyu, Bulbul, Laila Majnu, Nanad Bhojai, and Balidaan. The reader would be surprised to know that Balidaan was originally written by Rabindranath Tagore and dwelt with a powerful and emotional subject of the stupidity of animal sacrifice in temples!! The movie was highly appreciated by the Cinematograph Committee Association and the European Members recommended taking this movie in European countries. Thus Balidaan became the first Indian film that was sent to Europe for screening.

 

When Zubeida Begum was riding high, her career’s got a major boost! Call it pure destiny, filmmaker Ardeshir Irani, who had originally planned to cast Sulochana (Ruby Myers) in his first talkie film Alam Ara had to drop her as being a Jew she was not fluent in Urdu. Hence Ardeshir Irani approached Zubeida Begum for Alam Ara. Zubeida Begum was a Muslim hence she had command over Urdu. Besides, she was a proficient actress hence Zubeida Begum won the ticket to stardom. As expected Alam Ara was a box-office blockbuster.

 

The success of Alam Ara accelerated the demand for Zubeida Begum and she became of the highest-paid actresses. In 1934, she turned producer and established Mahalakshmi Movietone and gave some more hit films like Gul-e-Sonobar and Rasik-e-Laila. She continued to appear in films till the late ’40s. Her last film was Nirdosh Abla (1949).

 

Zubeida married Maharaj Narsingir Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur of Hyderabad and lived a peaceful royal life at Dhanraj Mahal Palace in Bombay amongst her children and grandchildren.

 

She died in 1988. She was 76 year old.