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Shama Zehra Zaidi is a Scriptwriter born on 25 september 1938
Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938, at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian screenwriter, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary film maker.
She was educated at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttar Pradesh, India. and at Miranda House, New Delhi, India. She has a B A Hons in English from Delhi University. She specialized in stage design, gaining a Diploma from the Slade School of Art, London, United Kingdom.
She is married to M S Sathyu, a filmmaker, designer, and art director.
Source : Wikidata
Shama Zehra Zaidi
Birth 25 september 1938 (85 years)
Awards Filmfare Awards
Awards Filmfare Awards
Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938, at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian screenwriter, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary film maker.
Biography
Shama Zaidi is the daughter of Col Bashir Hussain Zaidi (an administrator, businessman and politician) and Begum Qudsia Zaidi (a writer, social worker and theatre person, who established Hindustani theatre group in Delhi with Habib Tanvir, which made its debut with the production of an Hindustani version of Kalidas's Shakuntala and later produced Shudraka's Mrichakatika as Mitti Ki Gadi.She was educated at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttar Pradesh, India. and at Miranda House, New Delhi, India. She has a B A Hons in English from Delhi University. She specialized in stage design, gaining a Diploma from the Slade School of Art, London, United Kingdom.
She is married to M S Sathyu, a filmmaker, designer, and art director.
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Filmography of Shama Zehra Zaidi (15 films)
Scriptwriter
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Jaanisaar (2015)
Directed by Muzaffar Ali
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Imran Abbas, Pernia Qureshi, Muzaffar Ali, Dalip Tahil
Rating53%
A period drama set in 1877, the film depicts the story of a revolutionary killer.
, 3h42Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama, Biography, Action, Historical
Themes Spy films, Political films, Alternate history films
Actors Sachin Khedekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur, Divya Dutta, Kelly Dorji, Arif Zakaria
Rating75%
Set up in British Raj, after a political disagreement with Mahatma Gandhi, Bose's arrest and subsequent release sets the scene for his escape to Germany, via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. A few days before his escape, he sought solitude and, on this pretext, avoided meeting British guards and grew a beard on the night of his escape. He dresses himself as a Pathan to avoid being identified. Bose escapes from under British surveillance at his house in Calcutta on 19 January 1941, accompanied by his nephew Sisir K. Bose in a car.
Fertility (2000)
, 2h14Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Themes Feminist films, Political films
Actors Shabana Azmi, Rajit Kapur, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Nandita Das, Surekha Sikri, Shrivallabh Vyas
Rating73%
The movie tells the story of a middle aged Muslim woman Gazala (Shabana Azmi), who is ill treated by her husband and sent back to her parent's home, just because she is unable to give birth to a son. Gazala does have a daughter Salma (Rajeshwari Sachdev). The plot revolves around Gazala's stay at her mother's home and the problems faced by the women of the house, being her mother and sisters-in-law. The film is a beautiful description of the problems faced by women in the name of fertility, or in a different sense the urge to have a male child, especially in rural India. Shyam Benegal provides a masterpiece, reflecting on the sorrowful plight of rural Indian women. The irony lies in the point where the movie begins with a scene which shows a bull being brought to impregnate a buffalo. Five different women, each with a different story depicting the harsh realities of a woman's life.
Sardari Begum (1996)
, 2h15Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Actors Kiron Kher, Surekha Sikri, Amrish Puri, Rajit Kapur, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Uttara Baokar
Rating70%
The police are called to investigate the death of a woman during a riot in the walled city of Delhi. She was killed by a stone thrown by an agitated mob. The woman killed is known in the community as "Sardari Begum" (Kiron Kher), a popular singer and courtesan. The religious nature of the incident and the impending elections combine to attract the media's attention. When a young reporter covering the funeral, Tehzeeb Abbasi (Rajina Raj Bisaria), discovers her father among the mourners, her curiosity prompts her to investigate further. Then comes the revelation that the singer was in fact her aunt, who was disowned by her family for rebelliously learning music from a concubine.
Mammo (1994)
, 2h10Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Actors Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri, Sanjay Batra, Rajit Kapur, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Himani Shivpuri
Rating77%
13-year-old Riyaz (Amit Phalke) lives a poor lifestyle in Bombay, India, with his grandmother, Fayyuzi (Surekha Sikri), and her sister, Mehmooda Begum alias Mammo (Farida Jalal). Quite outspoken and embittered over his dad abandoning him, Riyaz does not have many friends, save for Rohan. When Mammo plans a surprise birthday party for him, Riyaz is offended as he believes his friends will make fun of him as his lifestyle is not as good as theirs. Fayyuzi and Riyaz have an argument with Mammo, and she leaves for the mosque at Haji Ali; she returns when they apologize. Although Mammo was born in Panipat during the British Raj, she was one of thousands of Muslims who left for Pakistan after Partition. She and her husband automatically become Pakistani citizens. Although childless, her marriage is a happy one until her husband's death. Over property matters, Mammo is thrown out of the house by her relatives.
The Seventh Horse of the Sun (1992)
, 2h10Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about films
Actors Rajit Kapur, Amrish Puri, Virendra Saxena, Neena Gupta, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Pallavi Joshi
Rating79%
The Essence (1987)
, 2h20Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Actors Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Neena Gupta, Mohan Agashe, Pallavi Joshi
Rating68%
Past, Present, and Future (1985)
, 2h17Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama, Historical
Actors Leela Naidu, Anita Kanwar, Neena Gupta, Soni Razdan, Dalip Tahil, Naseeruddin Shah
Rating70%
The Ascent (1983)
, 2h24Directed by Shyam Benegal
Actors Om Puri, Victor Banerjee, Pankaj Kapur, Rajen Tarafdar, Amrish Puri
Rating75%
Hari Mondal(Om Puri) is a poor village farmer who lives in the remote Bengal village of Giripur in Birbhum district with his wife, two sons, brother, an old widowed aunt Kalidashi (Gita Sen)and her daughter Panchi. The movie opens in the mid sixties when the Naxalbari uprising is spreading across Bengal and oppressed farmers are being united by youths who believe in communism ans a socialist republic. Hari and his brother Bolai (Noni Ganguly) are Borgadars, land tillers who plough and harvest the crop on land owned by Jotdars. Bibhutibhushan Ganguly (Victor Banerjee) is the young jotdar who has just lost his father and now wishes to employ new laws on his Borgadars ensuring his greatest profit while the poor farmer languishes in poverty. His estate agent Karmakar(Rajen Tarafdar)does most of his dirty dealings on his behalf that include keeping the poor villagers scared and in command. Hari's sister is about to get married and Hari asks Bibhutibhushan for a loan. Bibhutibhushan asks him to not register his Bargadari rights under the government office in exchange. Hari is naive and moulded under generations of servility and oppression to realise that his basic righta are being squandered although his younger brother Bolai isn't happy remaining as mere servants to the landlord. Bolai protests on multiple occasions only to be reprimanded by his brother and Karmakar. Bolai and Panchi(Sreela Majumdar) love each other.
Sookha (1983)
, 1h59Directed by Mysore Srinivas Sathyu
Genres Drama
Themes Disaster films
Actors Pankaj Dheer, Anant Nag
The Market Place (1983)
, 2h47Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution
Actors Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Smita Patil, Neena Gupta, Amrish Puri
Rating74%
For years an aging Rukmini Bai (Shabana Azmi) has been the Madame of a brothel in Hyderabad, India. One day she gets the news that she now has a new landlord in Mr. Gupta (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), whose daughter is to marry the mayor's son Sushil, shortly. Led by City Councillor, Shantidevi, the people in this town demand that this brothel be moved elsewhere, preferably on the outskirts of the town, and they do succeed, compelling Rukmini to move with her women to their new location, which happens to be near the Dargah of Baba Karak Shah. Ironically, this attracts a lot of people, and the patronage to Rukmini's bordello increases. Then complications set in when Sushil refuses to marry his father's choice, childlike Malti, and wants to marry Zeenat (Smita Patil) - a prostitute, not entirely by choice and seeking for a better existence, who resides with Rukmini.
Umrao Jaan (1981)
, 2h25Directed by Muzaffar Ali
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Rekha, Farooq Sheikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Shaukhat Kaifi, Dina Pathak, Prema Narayan
Rating76%
In the year 1840, a girl named Amiran (Seema Sathyu) is kidnapped from her family in Faizabad, Oudh by their neighbour, Dilawar Khan (Satish Shah), and sold to Madam Khanum Jaan (Shaukat Kaifi) who owns a brothel in Lucknow where she trains courtesans (tawaif). Amiran, renamed Umrao Jaan, learns to read, write, dance, and sing. She is a cultured woman trained to captivate men of wealth and taste.
The Chess Players (1977)
, 2h9Directed by Satyajit Ray
Origin Inde
Genres Drama
Themes Jeu, Sports films, Films about chess
Actors Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal, Richard Attenborough, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan
Rating74%
The film shows in parallel the historical drama of the Indian kingdom Awadh (whose capital is Lucknow) and its Muslim Nawab Wajid Ali Shah who is overthrown by the British, alongside the story of two shatranj (chess) obsessed noblemen.
Charandas the Thief (1975)
, 2h36Directed by Shyam Benegal
Genres Drama
Themes Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Smita Patil, Sundar, Habib Tanvir, Anjali Paigankar
Rating77%
The film is derived from a classic folk tale, originally narrated by Vijaydan Detha, and interpreted as folk play by Habib Tanvir. The film charts the tumultuous life of a petty thief, Charandas (Lalu Ram). Curiously he is a man of principles – an honest thief with a strong sense of integrity and professional efficiency. He makes four vows to his Guru, that he would never eat in a gold plate, never lead a procession that is in his honour, never become a king and never marry a princess, thinking all of them are far out possibilities for him. Later, his guru adds a fifth one - never to tell a lie and sets him of on his life's journey which leads him to a kingdom, where the turn of events make him famous, and eventually he is offered the seat of political power which he has to refuse. Later, the local princess (Smita Patil) gets enchanted by him, and proposes to marry him. This is when his refusal costs him his life. As he is put to death, he illustrates the inherent paradox in human existence, where truthful existence becomes an impossibility, for the truthful and the accidentally truthfuls, alike.
Garm Hava (1973)
, 2h26Directed by Mysore Srinivas Sathyu
Genres Drama
Actors Balraj Sahni, Farooq Sheikh, Gita Siddharth, Shaukhat Kaifi, A. K. Hangal, Jalal Agha
Rating80%
The Mirzas are a Muslim family living in a large ancestral house and running a shoe manufacturing business in the city of Agra in the United Provinces of northern India (now the state of Uttar Pradesh). The story begins in the immediate aftermath of India's independence and the partition of India in 1947. The family is headed by two brothers; Salim (Balraj Sahni), who heads the family business, and his elder brother Halim, who is mainly engaged in politics and is a major leader in the provincial branch of the All India Muslim League, which led the demand for the creation of a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. Salim has two sons, the elder Baqar, who helps him in the business, and Sikander (Farooq Shaikh), who is a young student. Halim's son Kazim is engaged to Salim's daughter, Amina. Although he had publicly promised to stay in India for the sake of its Muslims, Halim later decides to quietly emigrate to Pakistan with his wife and son, believing that there was no future for Muslims in India. Salim resists the notion of moving, believing that peace and harmony would return soon, besides which, he has to care for their ageing mother, who refuses to leave the house of her forefathers. This puts Kazim and Amina's marriage plans on hold, although Kazim promises to return soon to marry her. Halim's stealthy migration affects Salim's standing in the community. In the aftermath of partition, the sudden migration of many Muslims from Agra left banks and other lenders deeply reluctant to lend money to Muslim businessmen like Salim Mirza, who had previously been held in high esteem, over fears that they would leave the country without repaying the loan. Unable to raise capital to finance production, Salim Mirza's business suffers. Salim Mirza's brother-in-law, formerly a League supporter, now joins the ruling Indian National Congress in an attempt to get ahead in independent India while his son Shamshad unsuccessfully woos Amina, who is still devoted to Kazim and hopeful of his return.