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.

Zubeidaa's happiness more often than not, falls victim to her father's completely unjustified domination over her life. Suleman Seth is instrumental in cutting short her burning ambition of becoming a film actress. Suleman Seth is also responsible for giving Zubeidaa the biggest jolt of her life by forcibly getting her married to a boy whom she does not even know properly, leave alone liking him. The repurcussions of this were severe and as far as Zubeidaa is concerned the mental agony born out of this forced wedlock appears almost intolerable.

Behind every dark cloud lies a silver lining, they say and this is exactly what happens in Zubeidaa's life. 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). Sparks fly and both fall head over heels in love but this so-called path of love is not devoid of social thorns.

Does Zubeidaa succeed in overcoming the various obstacles presented by the narrow-minded society?

The answer lies in viewing the passionate love story of a vivacious, impulsive and daring young woman who defies all odds and coventions in order to live life on her own terms in 'Zubeidaa' - an unusual love tale of a truly unique woman.