Umrao Jaan is an epic period film that is crammed with lavish sets, heavy zardosi embroidered costumes, a gorgeous melancholic courtesan as the protagonist and the intense looking Nawab as her beau. Unfortunately a period film set in the 19th century may not hold as much relevance or interest for today’s viewers as the director would have liked to believe. Moreover Umrao Jaan is also a remake of Muzaffar Ali’s highly acclaimed version, so unfortunately there are bound to be comparisons and unfortunately the present day Umrao Jaan definitely pales in comparison to the earlier version. The film is a tragic love story intertwined with the other travails that envelope the protagonist Amiran’s life. However the story in its entirety does not manage to capture the audiences’ attention and the lethargic pace and dragging length of the film further takes it lower. J.P Dutta’s epic film sadly does not manage to dazzle or evoke the emotion of tragic sympathy for the film’s protagonist but leaves you with a feeling of monotony and restlessness.
Umrao Jaan has been produced and directed by J.P Dutta and is a fictional period film. The story has been written by O.P Dutta along with the dialogues of the film. The cast of the film includes Aishwarya Rai as Umrao Jaan, Abhishek Bachchan as Nawab Sultan, Shabana Azmi as Khanum Sahib, Suniel Shetty as Faiz Ali, Divya Dutta as Bismillah, Himani Shivpuri as Bua Hussaini, Puru Raaj Kumar as Gauhar Mirza, Kulbhushan Kharbandha as Maulvi Sahib, Ayesha Jhulka as Khurshid, Bikram Saluja as Ashraf, Parikshit Sahani as Umrao’s father, Maya Alagh as Umrao’s mother, Vishwajeet Pradhan as Dilawar Khan, Javed Khan as Peer Baksh and Bansree Madhani as the young Amiran.
Umrao Jaan was the beautiful courtesan at Khanum Sahib’s 'kotha', her beauty along with her talent and mastery over poetry, classical singing and dancing made her the envy and toast of the town. However Umrao was the name given to her by Khanum, she was born Amiran to a lower-middle class family. Her father was a simple, devoted and pious man who made an extremely modest living as a ‘jamadar’ at ‘Bahu Begum Ka Makhbara’ in Faizabad. Unfortunately an incident occurred where her father was a witness and gave evidence against a notorious man Dilawar Khan. He was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment because of her father’s testimony and hence he vowed revenge against the family. After serving his ten years sentence Dilawar returned to take his revenge and true to his word, he abducted little Amiran as the price for his imprisonment. He sold her to Khanum’s ‘kotha’ in Lucknow thereby rendering her to a fate which was worse than death.
However Khanum immediately took to little Amiran and decided to bring her up as one of her own. Khanum gave her the name Umrao and brought her up with all the teachings and finesse that any young woman required to become a bewitching courtesan. Umrao was surrounded with people who imparted immense knowledge to her, Bua Hussaini (Himani) taught her to carry herself with style, Maulvi Sahib (Kulbhushan) imparted education, she received knowledge about music and dance form the best tutors, Bismillah (Divya), Khurshid (Ayesha) and Gauhar Mirza (Puru) advised, taught and developed her skills further. With their help Umrao developed into a ravishing beauty and her command over poetry, dance and music made her even more enchanting and bewitching.
In her youth, Umrao was a rage and several high profile people sought her company, however Umrao sought out Nawab Sultan (Abhishek Bachchan) and dreamt of a different life with him. She wanted a home and a family. The Nawab too was besotted with Umrao and even incurred the wrath of his father to be with Umrao. Unfortunately Umrao’s fate has other plans and her happiness was not to be, dacoit Faiz too was enchanted with Umrao and his unrequited attraction lead to him destroying Umrao and Sultan’s love affair. A misunderstanding takes place and Umrao’s love story and dreams are shattered. The Britisher’s attack Lucknow and Umrao is rendered homeless. Her troubles are not to end there and she is even disowned by her own family later. Shattered and shunned by all those whom she loves, Umrao is left with tragedy and misery.
There are parts and sequences which are definitely heart wrenching and capture the melancholy of the protagonist’s life, but these are by and large very few. The film begins on a strong note with the abduction of Amiran and her being sold to the ‘kotha’. However from there on, more than the plight and situation of a girl being turned into a renowned courtesan one gets to see the splendor of costumes, the grandeur of sets and the art of dance and music being developed. The love story too is not drawn out in detail and as such the chemistry between Abhishek and Aishwarya is not explored to the maximum. Unfortunately J.P Dutta lets style and the look of the film take over rather than the content which leads to the downfall of the film.
The film drags on giving importance to grandeur and opulence within the umpteen song and dance sequences. But the misunderstanding that occurs within the love story is a fruitful twist in the tale and manages to capture the interest. Although the tale of events that follow in Umrao’s life makes you feel a tad sympathetic towards her, the feeling somehow does not stay and the dragging length and pace burden the screenplay. The film was way too long and could have easily been edited with more clarity and preciseness.
Unfortunately though Anu Malik’s music was not up to the mark in the film, it seemed to just prolong the narrative and was also responsible for dragging the pace out. However only the song ‘Salaam’ had a likeable feel to it and not many of the other songs appear appealing. O P’ Dutta’s dialogues are commendable but again the chaste Urdu recited by the characters was not up to the mark. But his script deserves merit although it has not been executed with equal finesse. Cinematography by A Bose is rich and capturing and even the sets by Bijon Das Gupta are brilliant. The costumes by Anna Singh although match the time and period seem a tad too loud and over the top at times. Choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant is fare.
Finally the performances are relatively good, Aishwarya Rai looks absolutely divine, her facial expressions are varied and captivating and her performance too is good. She manages to deliver a rather touching performance. Abhishek Bachchan does not get the scope that he deserves but nonetheless he looks great as the intense Nawab in love and his performance too is adequate. Shabana Azmi as Khanum is awesome and manages to steal the show the moment she comes into the frame. Whether it is her showdown scene or her chaste Urdu recital she definitely comes through as an exemplary actress. Suniel Shetty is average in his performance, Puru Raaj Kumar delivers a fare performance, Divya Dutta, Ayesha Jhulka, Himani Shivpuri and Kulbhushan Kharbandha are fairly good in their supporting roles. Parikshit Sahani, Maya Alagh, Javed Khan, Bikram Saluja and Vishwajeet Pradhan are okay in their brief roles.
In spite of the actors doing a fare job and the script being worthy, it is the execution by J. P Dutta that falters and makes the film to be termed as long, dreary and monotonous. Moreover the period and era of the film caters to a very miniscule audience and excludes a sizeable amount of the masses. Opulence and grandeur seem to be the mainstay of the film while content is relegated to the backburner. Unfortunately J.P Dutta’s film fails to entertain and captivate the audiences. At the box-office too the film will probably not manage to get much of a hold.
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| Reviewed By: Rachel Fernandes |
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