Zubeida, directed by Shyam Benegal, staring Karishma Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai, and others.

First things first, do you like Bollywood movies? If you just hate them all, then you can skip this one. I’m not a huge Bollywood fan, but the better output from there certainly interests me at least as much as the movies from the town with the “H.” I’m not completely sure why, but I think it has something to do with this--the best of Bollywood takes on grandiose issues. It’s like the better John Woo films, part of their charm is their willingness to confront what it means to be loyal to a friend, or what is worth risking for love. Non-Hollywood film today seems all too often to be a) British costume dramas esp. Jane Austen, b) narratives where the stuffy Europeans (Brits figure prominently here as well) cross oceans where they are sexualized and/or scandalized by the lusty and dusky provincials (Sirens being a prototype), or c) self assuring stories about quirky artists and intellectuals who for some reason are forced to endure the company of their narrow minded parents and buffoonish high school classmates. In my opinion, it’s just too much preaching to the choir, like so many novels where every character is a college professor, an artist, a musician, or the editor of a literary journal.

Not so with Bollywood, and not so with Zubeida. The character who gives the film it’s title is cut from familiar cloth, she’s the hot headed, life loving, devil may care girl who loves to dance and dances to love. The movie is set in the 50’s and 60’s of India, and her parents are relatively secular but still socially traditional Muslims. The film opens at Zubeida’s funeral, so we know right away the ending can’t be happy in any traditional sense. The story is held together by her son, orphaned at a young age (he’s a small boy at the funeral), and now seeking to answer questions about his mother and find the film reel with Zubeida dancing, the only time she was captured on film.

As we work through Zubeida’s life, we see her friction with her parents, two marriages (one for her family and one for love), her traversing of religious and cultural lines, and snippets of life in India soon after the modern version of that country was created. In these situations, grand questions are asked. Should a woman leave her family for love? Can polygamy work? How might a traditional society join a more 20th century social and political structure? This being Bollywood, there’s also a lot of singing and dancing by really hot Indian chicks, the odd fairy/angel/pixie, camels, and some breathtaking outdoor shots.

Even so, a movie like this is going to live or die by the performance of the main character, and Kapoor is more than equal to the challenge. She’s heartbreakingly beautiful, and while Zubeida can be a hysterical and irritating, she’s a believable character who is hard not to like. I think almost anyone will be pulling for her by halfway through the movie, and the other main characters are by and large very good. Her imposing father is a bit over the top, but her second husband does a great job as the progressive rural chieftain, and his other queen (that’s the polygamy part) is also wonderfully cast and played. There are also interesting quirks involving colonialism, like a Scottish band, complete with tartan kilts and bagpipes, that is incongruously composed entirely of Indians. They strut their way across a polo field playing the colonizers music to introduce the colonized playing the colonizers game. Still, the reason this is a great introduction to Bollywood is lovely Kapoor, who you’ll want to wrap up and get out of the mess she’s in before it’s too late.

Technical note, the DVD transfer on this is quite good, which isn’t always the case for movies from India. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is also excellent, again uncharacteristically, though occasionally things happen in the surrounds that don’t seem to belong there. Also, the English subtitles can flow by awfully fast, so keep your eyes peeled and watch it a second time after you know the plot for extra moments of Kapoor ogling.