Desi Galaxy

The patriotic and anti-Pakistan movie director, J P Dutta is remaking the classic Urdu novel Umrao Jaan. Written in 1899 by Mirza Mohammed Hadi Ruswa, this novel first appeared on the cinema screen in 1981 when Muzaffar Ali converted Rekha into Umrao Jaan. According to Mirza Mohammed Ruswa, he only co authored this story and it was originally told by Umrao Jaan herself. Most Urdu critics agree with Ruswa’s claim because the poetry of Umrao that appears in the novel was already quite famous in Lucknov where people still missed the famous courtesan who mysteriously disappeared after the revolt in 1857.

J. P. Dutta is remaking the movie with Aishwarya Rai. The main factor that J. P. Dutta should keep in mind is that this is going to be an Urdu movie and to do it correctly he would need writers and actors with command on the Urdu language which is different from Hindi. He would need dialogues delivered in the right accent and right body language. Aishwarya is a great actress no doubt about that but we don’t know much about her Urdu profeciency and how well she knows the character of Umrao Jaan. Rekha did a termedous job in this movie not because she had a good knowledge of the Luknavi culture or Urdu but because she did what the director wanted him to do. You can feel how stressfully she acted but this stress puts her on the trail to display the stress that a courtsean went through. The sets, camera work and costumes were so great that it is nearly impossible to recreate them. Just like Bhansali who failed to remake Devdas even after spending billions of Rupees.

I hope that Aishwarya can portray the well mannered, cultured, poetic and dreamy courtesan who was not only a singer but a literary genius aswell. The music of this movie is composed by Anu Malik, which is again a very bad sign. Anu Malik has absolutely no idea about the cultural and musical background of the movie. Javed Akhter is writing the lyrics and I just hope that Dutta hires some Urdu writers for writing the screenplay and dialogues rather than doing it himself. Abhishek Bachchan is a good choice and so is Shabana Azmi who will be playing the role of Khanum Jan, the courtesan’s mother.

Yesterday Shabana Azmi was honored Crystal Awarn in World Economic Forum, Davos. She has previously worked in classic hindi movies that had taken a lot from the Urdu cultural heritage. Being Muslim, daughter and wife of Urdu poets, Shabana already knows what she is going to do. Most important aspect of her role is that her mother played the same role in the 1981 version of Umrao Jaan by Muzaffar Ali. Recently Shabana Azmi told Hindustan Times about Umrao Jaan:

I am excited about Umrao Jaan where I am playing Khanam’s character which my mother (Shaukat Azmi) played in the Muzaffar Ali’s version some two decades back. It is a challenge though I don’t think I could lay the role half as well as she did. I am enjoying the film… Abhishek is in great form and Aishwarya Rai has put in her best. She looks stunning in the film.

It is impossible not to compare Rekha and Aishwarya when watching Umrao Jaan. Rekha won National Award for this movie and she still captivates the audience with her Mujra performances at award functions. But according to JP Dutta, “But Ash’s Umrao is diametrically different from Rekha’s. Ash is doing it in her own way. And it’s certainly unique and outstanding.”

Tags:bollywood, aishwarya rai, umrao jaan, abhishek bachchan