'Jubilee': From Madhubala to Nargis, Wamiqa Gabbi pays homage to yesteryear stars

Wamiqa Gabbi

Being signed on for Jubilee was a dream come true for Wamiqa Gabbi, who grew up on a steady diet of black-and-white movies. With it, the actor not only realised her dream of working with creator-director Vikramaditya Motwane, but also revisited the golden era of Hindi cinema. She is ecstatic that her performance as Niloufer Qureshi, an aspiring actor, is being widely praised. Gabbi says that she turned to yesteryear actors - from Madhubala to Nargis, from Waheeda Rehman to Meena Kumari - for inspiration. "Niloufer Qureshi has had a hard life, but she is unapologetically ambitious. I was conscious of not imitating any of the [yesteryear actors], but this is my homage to them," she shares.

Madhubala and Nargis

The Amazon Prime Video offering - also starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aditi Rao Hydari, Aparshakti Khurana and Sidhant Gupta - is a tale of love, power and ambition, set against the backdrop of the Hindi movie industry of the late '40s and early '50s. Gabbi says she referenced films of the era, imbibing traits of the leading ladies. "The yesteryear actresses had certain adayein and simplicity that added to their performances. Having keenly observed their performances, I have tried to put the ada in my own way. You'll see that in the upcoming episodes when Niloufer begins working in the movies," she adds. The final five episodes of the period piece will drop online this weekend.

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