Review of Zubeidaa

i am not a great fan of indian movies, but i was genuinely excited to watch this film. the concept seemed new for an indian movie, and the previews made it look as if this is going to be a powerful story about a woman torn between love and duty. i was immensely disappointed with the film.

i'll have to admit that i admire the intentions of shyam benegal. he wanted to create a love story of immense power that no rule could not stop it. he wanted zubeida to be portrayed as a beautiful and confused woman who is torn between relationships. but karisma kapoor's acting is so hackneyed and cliched, that the whole essence of the character disappeared! and the script was terrible... i twitched in pain every time the characters say lines such as "roses for auntie rose" or "aap mujhse jalti hain?" the characters were not well-developed, and most of the roles were stereotypical one-dimensional characters.

but the biggest problems is probably the character of zubeida herself! instead of coming off as an admirable and strong-willed woman, zubeida was nothing more than a selfish, greedy, jealous, cold b*tch!

the story has already been done before, and it has been done better.. don't waste your time at this feeble attempt to be an art film!