The daughter of actor-director Fatma Begum and sister of actresses Sultana and Shehzadi, Zubeida was one of the first few ladies who entered the Bollywood film industry. She started her acting career in Bollywood with the 1923 film Kohinoor, at the age of 12. Zubeida also appeared in the first Indian talkie Alam Ara (1931). She is best known for her works in movies like Kala Chor (1925), Devdasi (1925), Laila Majnu (1927), Balidan (1927), Veer Abhimanyu (1931), Mahabharat (1933), Birbal Ki Beti (1935) and Devdas (1937). She married Maharaj Narsingir Dhanrajgir Gyan Bahadur of Hyderabad and the two became parents of Humayun Dhanrajgir and Dhurreshwar Dhanrajgir.