Zubeida Dhanrajgir

Zubeida was born in the year 1911. She was a very famous Indian Actress, who was famous for her performances mostly in silent movies. Her parents were Nawab Sidi Ibraham Muhammad Yakut Khan III and Fatima Begum Fatima Begum was India’s very first female movie d >> Read More... , who was famous for being one of the first woman directors in Indian film industry. Zubeida also had sisters, Shehzadi and Sultana, known for her role in Veer Abhimanyu. Both of them are Indian actresses too.

She made her debut in the film industry at a tender age of 12 in a movie named Kohinoor. India’s first talkie movie saw her performing that was called Alam Ara, which came out in the year 1931. She also made her appearance in the movie Devdas, which saw its release in the year 1937.

She came into the film business in a time when the world of cinema wasn’t an appropriate place for a girl to work. She was one the first actresses who made her debut at a very young age and, therefore, became an inspiration for many. Zubeida also was the one who set a benchmark for other actresses because of her value in the male dominating film industry. She was paid so much higher than the already defined standards of pay after her breakthrough performance in Alam Ara. Mostly known for her performance in silent movies, she was among the few actors and actresses who was able to make a rather smooth and successful transition from a silent movie genre to that of the talkies.

She married Maharaja Narsingar Dhanrajgir and became the Begum of Hyderabad. Zubeida became a mother to two children she had with the Maharaja. One was a daughter named Dhurreshwas Dhanrajgir and the other was a son named Humayun Dhanrajgir. It is believed that the last movie in which we saw the legendary Zubeida perform was a movie named Nirdosh Abla which came out in the year 1949. She spent the last years of her life in the Dhanraj Palace. Her demise happened on 21st of September 1988 when her age was 77 years.

Another Version Of This Bio

Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir was an Indian actress. Zubeida was born in 1911; she appeared in her first Indian sound film Alam Ara (1931). Her work includes her early hit Devdas (1937) and her first talkie for Sagar Movietone, Meri Jaan. Born in Surat, Gujarat, western India, Zubeida was the daughter of Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III and Fatima Begum of Sachin. She had two sisters, Sultana and Shehzadi, who were actresses. She was one of the few girls involved in the film from an early age when it was not considered a proper profession for a girl from a respectable family. Zubeida was only 12 years old when she made her Kohinoor debut. In the 1920s, she was rarely seen on screen with Sultana. The latter earned her one of the most beautiful leading actresses in Indian cinema. One of the films starring the two sisters was her Kalyan Khajina in 1924. Sharing the screen in Zubeida's first blockbuster, Veer Abhimanyu, released two years before her, her mother, Fatima Begum, also played a key role for her.

Zubeida and Alam in Her Ara in Master Vishal (1931) A year later, she appeared in her mother's film, Bulbul-e-Paristan. 1927 was a memorable year for her with the hugely successful movies Laila Majnu Click to look into! >> Read More... , Nanan Bhojayi, and The Sacrifice of Navy Gandhi; the latter was based on Rabindranath Tagore's Balidhan and starred Sulochana Devi, Master Vital, and Jal Kambatta. It denounced the ancient practice of animal sacrifice in certain Kali temples in Bengal. Members of the Indian Cinematograph Committee were enthusiastic about this 'excellent true Indian film.' His European members recommended sending him abroad for screening. Zubeida starred in many silent films before Alam Ala was the turning point in her career and became her biggest hit. Suddenly she was in high demand and was receiving a salary far over the norm for women in the film industry at the time. , Uttara, and Draupadi in several successful historical epics. She has also successfully portrayed her emotions in films like Ezra Mir's Zarina.

She played a feisty, unpredictable circus girl whose kisses steamed the screen and sparked a bitter censorship controversy. Zubeida was one of the few actresses who successfully transitioned from the silent era to talkies. She founded Movietone with Nanubhai Vakil Mahalakshmi and had box office successes with Guru-e-Sonovar and Rasik-e-Laila. She continued to appear in one or two films a year until 1949. Nirdosh Abla was her last film. Zubeida married Maharaj Narsingir Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur from Hyderabad; she was the mother of Humayun Dhanrajgir and Dhurreshwar Dhanrajgir. Dhurreshwar is the mother of model Rhea Pillai An Indian model known for her works on television >> Read More... . Zubeida spent her later years in her family's palace at Dhanraj Mahal in Bombay. She died on September 21, 1988, and was buried in Chhatrapati She Shivaji She Maharaj She Maag, Apollo She Bandar, Colaba, South Mumbai.