Shyam Benegal’s classics are captivating the attention of the filmy buffs of the city. Under a film fest based on Shyam Bengal’s movies, Hindi film ‘Zubeidaa’ was screened on Thursday at Bharat Bhavan.

Zubeidaa is a 2001 Indian film directed by Shyam Benegal and written by Khalid Mohammed. It stars Karisma Kapoor, Rekha, Manoj Bajpayee, Surekha Sikri, Rajit Kapoor, lillete Dubey, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, and Shakti Kapoor.

The film is based on the life of the ill-fated actress Zubeida Begum, who married Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur and was the mother of the film's writer.

Zubeidaa is a story of a young man Riyaz's (Rajit Kapur) quest to recover the memory of his mother Zubeidaa (Karisma Kapoor), a mother he never knew. Brought up by his grandmother from the age of three, all knowledge of his mother was kept away from him.

Troubled by the scant knowledge he has of his mother, Riyaz sets about trying to piece together her life from the memories of those who knew her. Extremely talented and beautiful, Zubeidaa is the only daughter of Suleman Seth (Amrish Puri), a film producer in Mumbai. Zubeidaa's dreams and aspirations are never on her father's priority list.

Her life takes a turn for the better and life a whiff of fresh air, romance makes unexpected entrance in her life in the form of Maharaja Vijayendra Singh (Manoj Bajpai). After many ups and downs, she died with her husband in a plane crash. As ups and downs are part and parcel of life, it must be accepted by anybody with both the hands and there should not be any qualm about it.

The film garnered the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and won Karisma Kapoor a Filmfare Award for Best Actress.