UMRAO JAAN 1981 MOVIE MOVIE

Even the small characters of Maulvi Saheb(Gajaanan Jaagirdaar) and Bismillah(Prema Naarayan) are able to leave their imprint in the movie.

Originally a Tamilian, this talented actress has portrayed the Urdu speaking Shaayara cum Tawaayaf in an amazing manner.ДЇarooque Sheikh as Umrao Jaan's lover and all the other characters have also done exceedingly well. Rekha does not seem to be acting, she appears to be actually living the life of Umrao Jaan. Rekha quite deservingly won the national award for the best actress for the title role played by her in this movie(though Jennifer Kendal Kapoor was a stronger contender for that award for that year for her performance in 36 Chowringhee Lane). The cinematographer has also left no stone unturned from his side in this regard and thus a realistic account of that era is presented to the audience who also happen to witness the turbulence due to the Gadar or the mutiny of 1857 by a section of the Indians against the British rule. The complete milieu including the architecture, the dialect, the clothes, the style of living etc. The art director has brought the period of the 19th century alive on the screen. Within a few minutes, the narrative envelops the viewer and makes him a part of the unusual story of the protagonist being told to him. It's a journey made by the spectator alongwith the courtesan known as Umrao Jaan. It stirs, moves, pinches and brings tears to eyes.

Umrao Jaan can be termed as pain-filled poetry written on celluloid.

UMRAO JAAN 1981 MOVIE MOVIE

Anybody who has watched this movie on the big screen must have left the theatre with a throbbing in his / her heart. It's an example of sheer brilliance on the part of the filmmaker who conveys the permanent sense of loneliness in the courtesan to the audience leaving the theatre without any spoon-feeding. The ending scene is just superb in which Umrao Jaan wipes the mirror to see her face in that. The audience is not only kept engaged in the narrative and glued to the screen for more than two hours but also made to feel the pain, the feelings and the stuffiness of the pivotal character. The narrative with the gloom and loneliness of the principal character prevalent in every moment of it, moves at a reasonable pace without allowing any laxity or boredom to creep in. This script has been written quite crisply without giving undue footage to anything and not allowing the focus to divert from the principal character and her woes.

Taking the story from the said novel, producer-director Muzaffar Ali himself has written the screenplay and dialogs of this movie in association with Shama Zaidi and Jaaved Siddiqui. Certain males enter her life and raise false hopes in her heart for being able to live a normal married life containing a loving husband, social acceptance and motherhood but finally, she finds that loneliness only is her destiny. However she finds almost everybody around him as greedy for her earnings and she continue to move through her journey of life with a sense of complete loneliness within her. After getting kidnapped and sold to a Kotha(brothel) in Lucknow, she grows up and becomes famous among the rich and the elite because of her Shaayari(Urdu poetry) sung in her melodious voice and coupled with her enchanting dances. The story belongs to the Tawaayaf(courtesan) Umrao Jaan who was born at Faizabaad as Ameeran. And undoubtedly, director Muzaffar Ali's cinematic version of the story originally written in the nineteenth century and said to be the true story of a true character, is better than the written work which I am reviewing now. I happened to watch the movie first and read the novel later. Umrao Jaan(1981) is based on the novel - 'Umrao Jaan Ada' of Mirza Mohammad Haadi Ruswa.

Umrao jaan 1981 movie