- This article is about the 2006 film, directed by J.P. Dutta. For the 1981 film with the same title and subject directed by Muzaffar Ali starring Rekha, see Umrao Jaan.
Umrao Jaan (Urdu: امراؤ جان, Hindi: उमराव जान) is a Bollywood production starring Aishwarya Rai as the famous courtesan. The film is directed by J.P. Dutta and also stars Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
Plot
In 1840, eight year old Amiran (Bansree Mandhani) is kidnapped from her home in Faizabad by Dilawar Khan (Vishwajeet Pradhan) who had been sent to jail based upon the evidence presented by Amiran's father. To take his revenge, he kidnaps Amiran and sells her to a brothel in Lucknow, run by Khannum Jaan (Shabana Azmi). She is adopted by Bua Hussaini (Himani Shivpuri) and Maulvi Sahib (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who treat her as their own daughter. In the company of Khurshid (Ayesha Jhulka), Bismillah (Divya Dutta) and one of the courtesan's sons, Gauhar Mirza (Puru Rajkumar), Amiran learns the art of being a courtesan.
The young girl turns into an elegant, poetic beauty by the name of Umrao Jaan (Aishwarya Rai). Umrao's beauty and poetry is enough to catch the eye of Nawab Sultan (Abhishek Bachchan). The two begin a passionate romance, but when his father finds out he disowns Nawab Sultan from his life, wealth and property. The penniless Nawab goes to his uncle's Nazimuddin in Grahi to sort himself out, and Umrao prays every day for his return.
With his absence, Umrao catches the eye of Faiz Ali (Sunil Shetty) who wants her at all costs. He extends a hand of friendship to her and asks her to accompany him to his home in Daulatabad, Umrao accepts but only after she finds out that they will be travelling through Grahi. After a confrontation involving Faiz Ali's men and the soldiers of Grahi, the party are arrested including Umrao. Faiz Ali is revealed to be a dacoit who has been pursued for years. Nawab Sultan hears that Umrao and Faiz Ali are in Grahi and he meets Ali in the prison. Faiz Ali manipulates the information concerning his time with Umrao, and implies to the Nawab that they had a sexual relationship. The Nawab confronts Umrao and - feeling that she betrayed him - shuns her and sends her back to Lucknow. Heartbroken, Umrao attempts to return to her old life, but fate has other plans for her.
In a drunken state, her childhood friend Gauhar Mirza becomes frustrated and rapes her. Soon thereafter the British attack the city and she is forced to leave Lucknow; however, before doing so, she forgives Gauhar Mirza. She and the refugees then separate after she decides to go to Faizabad. Umrao goes to her childhood home, and finds out her father is dead. She meets her mother and brother, but they refuse to accept her because of her profession. Umrao, shunned by her family, her lover and society, leaves to return to Lucknow, but fate plays another joke and on her way out the city, she encounters the man who kidnapped and sold her to the brothel in the first place. Poor, wretched, homeless and injured, the man begs for pity (not recognizing that she is Amiran), and she essentially forgives him. Shunned by all and having forgiven those who destroyed her life, she lives the rest of her days in Lucknow with her poetry and ill fate.
Cast
Production
According to Dutta the film is based on the script written by his father O.P. Dutta[2] which in turn was adapted from the classic Urdu novel Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. The film was shot on location including some palaces from Jaipur. Saroj Khan, was considered to do the songs choreography but was later replaced by Vaibhavi Merchant, due to some problems with director J.P. Dutta.
Several of the roles were changed during pre-production. Priyanka Chopra was considered to play the part of Umrao Jaan, but could not allot the ninety consecutive dates required for shooting due to her role in Bluffmaster. Arshad Warsi was to star in the film as Gauhar Mirza, but dropped out soon after as he chose to appear in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Puru Raj Kumar replaced Warsi. Shabana Azmi, who plays the role of Khannum Jaan, is the daughter of Shaukat Azm, who played the same role in the 1981 version. The music is by Anu Malik and the lyrics by Javed Akhtar. The track listing is as follows:
- "Ek Tute Huye Dil Ki" - Alka Yagnik
- "A Foreword" - by Javed Akhtar
- "Salaam" - Alka Yagnik
- "Pehle Pehel" - Alka Yagnik
- "Jhute Ilzaam" - Alka Yagnik
- "Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Na Kijo" - Richa Sharma
- "Main Na Mil Saku" - Alka Yagnik
- "Bekhka Diya Humein" - Alka Yagnik & Sonu Nigam
- "Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Na Kijo" (child version) - Anmol Malik
- "Pooch Rahe Hai" - Alka Yagnik
Reception
The film performed poorly at the box office, grossing only Rs.64,900,000.[3] The film received mainly negative reviews from critics, many of them reacting unfavourably to J. P. Dutta's direction and the film's three hour running time.[4] Despite the unfavourable reviews for the film, BBC film critic Poonam Joshi praised Shabana Azmi's performance as "exemplary"[5] while the Hindustan Times called her performance "the highlight of this film".[6]
Worldwide, the film has grossed $1,371,723, including $485,000 at the US box office.[1]
References
External links
