Zubeida, Nawab’s daughter, heroine of India’s first talking movie ‘Alam Ara’ and work in films, broke tradition and achieved success

Zubeida was one of the few girls who entered films at a young age and at a time when this profession was not considered suitable for girls from respectable families.

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When Zubaida was 12 years old, she made her debut with ‘Kohinoor’. During the 1920s, he played many roles on screen alongside Sultana, who had by then become one of the most beloved actresses of Indian cinema. One of the films in which both sisters acted was ‘Kalyan Khajina’ in 1924. She also shared the screen in Zubeidaa’s first blockbuster, ‘Veer Abhimanyu’, in which her mother Fatima Begum also played an important role.

In the year 1925, nine films of Zubaida were released, including ‘Kala Chor’, ‘Devdasi’ and ‘Desh Ka Dushman’. She also appeared in her mother’s film ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan’. The year 1927 was memorable, because he did successful films like ‘Laila Majnu’, ‘Nand Bhaujai’ and ‘Balidan’.

Worked in many silent films

Zubaida Begum Dhanrajgir

Zubaida acted in several silent films before ‘Alam Ara’, which proved to be the turning point in his career and proved to be his biggest hit. She suddenly became very much in demand and at that time she started getting salary much more than the rules set for a woman in the film industry. In the 30s and early 40s she formed a hit team with Jal Merchant and went on to play characters like Subhadra, Uttara and Draupadi in several successful historical epic films.

According to reports, he also played many such characters, whose kissing scene made a lot of headlines during that time. She was one of the few actresses who made a successful transition from the silent era to the talkies era. Zubeida appeared in only one or two films a year till 1934. His last movie was ‘Nirdos Abla’.

Talking about personal life, Zubaida married Maharaja Narsingir Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur of Hyderabad. She was the mother of Humayun Dhanrajgir and Dhurreshwar Dhanrajgir. Dhurreswar is the mother of model Riya Pillai and Riya was married to Sanjay Dutt. After a few years, both were separated and then got divorced. This was Sanjay Dutt’s second marriage. Earlier he was married to Richa Sharma, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. After Riya, Sanjay Dutt married Manyata Dutt and both have twin children. On the other hand, Riya was in a live-in relationship with tennis player Leander Paes. The couple has a daughter. But Riya and Leander’s relationship is broken.