Umrao Jaan (2006) Online

First and foremost, I appreciate Dutta's good intentions of exposing today's generation to the beauty of Urdu Zabaan and Lakhnawi Tehzeeb. It takes courage to do an Urdu film, in an age where Hinglish is fast becoming the linguafranca of people. It's a pleasure to hear the main characters of Umrao Jaan mouth dialogue in chaste Urdu. The problem is that except a few – Shabana Azmi and Aishwarya Rai who has evidently worked hard on her diction – no other actor can carry it off. And at many places the 'Lakhnawi' flavour of the language is missing. And even chaste Hindi words like 'Maan-Maryada' creep into the dialogue at times.

Next, the production values of the film are quite good. The sets are opulent, the costumes and jewellery exquisite. While the film is a visual delight, the objective of recreating 19th century Lucknow is not achieved. Nawab Sultan dons a Pathani look, Faiz Ali is more Afghani, and despite J.P Dutta's best effort, the Rajasthani element ends up making brief, yet damaging appearances in the art decoration.

The narration of Umrao's story demands a bit of 'thehrav', a relaxed unfolding of events. That calls for some patience on the part of the audiences who are used to instant gratification. However, I think J.P Dutta got carried away and completely forgot that a slow film need not be boring. Some of the sequences are so long drawn out that one loses interest after a while. When Nawab Sultan returns to the kotha in a drunken state, his scene with Umrao takes boredom to new heights. I wouldn't mind even a 15 minute scene where Umrao and Nawab might just exchange poetry or converse in high-flown Urdu. But here, there is no poetry to appreciate, there's no delicacy of zabaan to relish, and there's really nothing consequential going on. It hurts. The film is so long that by the time the film ends, it seems that you've been sitting at the theatre for ages. I did not get bored because I was carefully listening, analyzing and appreciating the language of the film. But for someone who does not appreciate Urdu it can be quite a torture.

I am probably one of the very few people who have liked Anu Malik's music in Umrao Jaan. After watching the film, people are cursing the movie even more because they think the songs add unnecessarily to the length of the film. I disagree with this. The songs, and the lyrics, are the highlights of this film. Instead of dialogue, the narrative moves through songs. If Umrao wants to say something, she says it through a ghazal (remember, Ruswa's Umrao is a poetess). I also think very highly of Vaibhavi Merchant's choreography. Her steps, movements and gestures are full of ada, as one would expect in a film about a 19th century 'tawaif'.

Aishwarya looks stunning as Umrao Jaan. And it is also evident that she has worked hard on her performance and dialogue delivery. I always considered her as a beautiful face with no acting talent. But in Umrao Jaan she is quite good, if only by her standards. So while it cannot be rated as a great performance in absolute terms, coming from Ash it certainly is a good job. Sadly, Abhishek disappoints big time. And I wouldn't only blame the script for that. His performance is very flat, something one doesn't expect from an actor who has shown considerable improvement over the years. The only actor who is consistently good in the film is Shabana Azmi (what else did you expect?)

The film's biggest drawback is it's script. J.P Dutta's film follows the same narrative structure as the book, where in her twilight years Umrao Jaan tells the story of her life to the author – Ruswa. In that respect J.P Dutta tries to be truer to the book than Muzaffar Ali's 1981 version. I was quite pleased with the way J.P Dutta chose to start his film. However, the changes introduced later and the confused characterisation spoil what could've been a great film. I'm all for making changes to literary works to suit the medium of celluloid, so long as it doesn't alter the spirit of the original writing. But Dutta goes a step further and creates a few entirely new events to add twists to the story. These changes do not add to the film; in fact, they drastically change some of the important characters.

The main problem with Dutta's script is that most characters have either not been properly developed or altered significantly. Gauhar Mirza (Puru Raj Kumar), Bismillah (Divya Dutta), Khursheed (Ayesha Jhulka), Faiz Ali (Suneil Shetty) – all had significant roles to play in the literary Umrao's life, but in the film all except Faiz Ali get very marginal roles, almost as if their presence was only incidental. Even Faiz Ali's character has been changed drastically. Except the fact that he's a dacoit who Umrao elopes with, every single aspect of his character and role have no relation to Ruswa's story. Ditto with Gauhar Mirza. The only character who comes across just the way Ruswa envisioned is Khanum, played with characteristic ease by Shabana Azmi.

On the whole, while J.P Dutta's Umrao Jaan has some positive aspects to it, it doesn't come across as a genuine attempt at recreating Ruswa's novel. And the length of the film, just kills it!

I have just watched J.P. Dutta's remake of the classic "Umrao Jaan" from 1981 and I find that there's a lot to say about it, not all of which is very positive.

To begin with however, I will say that Aishwarya Rai's performance was very good in the film. She has been called a wooden faced actor in the past, and has also been credited with no more than four facial expressions that she can use in her performance. But in "Umrao Jaan" Aishwarya seems to have matured greatly. Her performance captured Umrao Jaan's maddening joy at finding love, and then her confusion, despair, the betrayal she felt and the ultimate resignation to fate when she realizes that she's lost everything. If Rai's acting seems repetitive or slightly tired at times, this can mostly be attributed to less than perfect direction from J.P. Dutta, and many other actors in the film have also failed to deliver the best they could for this very reason.

Abhishek Bachchan, who is now a very versatile actor, delivered a rather forgettable performance in the film. He was slightly awkward in his screen movements, seeming uncomfortable in some of the indoor settings and, as the first and biggest love of Umrao Jaan's life, he did injustice to the role. His acting was so understated that it prevented viewer identification with the character. He could not evoke an emotional response in any of his scenes, least of all in his last scenes in the plot where the anger, resentment and resolute cold hearted rejection of Umrao Jaan by her lover came across only as petty tantrum thrown by an adolescent.

Mostly however, these flaws in the film could have been prevented if J.P. Dutta had kept a firm grip over the screenplay, over the editing, and over the number of people in the cast. It seems that with too much to direct by himself, Dutta could not do full justice to many parts of the film, and veteran actors like Shabana Azmi, Himani Shivpuri and Divya Dutta directed themselves to fill in the gaps in the director's frenzied vision.

There are too many actors in the film fighting for screen space, so much so that no one except a few make any impact. This has been a problem with a couple of Dutta's other films too, namely "Border" and "LoC", where the script was crowded with far more characters than required, and too many well known actors played them on screen.

The screenplay for "Umrao Jaan" should have been tighter. Dutta does not find a good mix of emotions here. The first part of the film's story is almost entirely neutral or happy with viewers waiting for some dramatic tension or conflict to appear. Umrao Jaan's and Nawab Sultan's courtship is dragged on for scene after scene until just before the interval where we see some action beginning to happen. The remainder of the film is then entirely sad. The length of the film makes these polarities stand out even more, and the transition from the best time of her life to the worst is too slow to happen, and then very suddenly accomplished.

Most importantly, it seems that Dutta could not resist the temptation to put in everything that he had shot. This film sorely needs stricter editing. Perhaps it is because Dutta has edited it himself, that one finds too many unnecessary scenes in the film. If he had had an impartial editor do the job it would not have been botched up out of sentimental attachments to the 'director's baby'. Martin Scorsese, when he went to the cinema with his friends, realised that if the viewers laugh at some point at which they're not meant to, then obviously the film has gone wrong there. I found the entire theatre howling with laughter at many scenes that were not meant to be funny at all. In particular three crucial scenes in the film, one in which Nawab Sultan goes to Umrao drunk and on the defensive. He then chooses to misunderstand her concern for him as pity. This scene dragged on for so long that the audience started picking on the dialogue and laughing at all the inappropriate times. Another scene, where Faiz Ali finds Umrao unresponsive to his love so he rips her clothes off and then screams in anguish, evoked guffaws louder than the character's own enraged cries. And finally, after enduring the film for ever so long, the audience had no sympathy for Umrao at the end when, after her last mujra, the whole court is in stunned silence for a minute. At this point, all that the audience sitting behind me could think of was how ridiculous all the people looked sitting on the floor with their heads hung low.

And to add a last point to my argument, where the director paid attention to such exquisite and minute details as far as the beautiful period sets and costumes were concerned, there he failed to spot a most obvious gaffe. Suniel Shetty appears in one scene, in which the camera is positioned so that his feet are in the centre of the frame, to be wearing regular 21st century rubber soled and heeled lace up shoes. Apart from this there were plenty of scenes were one could see the adhesive strips on fake beards, mustaches and wigs.

But despite all the flaws in the film, it was visually stunning. A real treat for the eyes. I would recommend that people watch "Umrao Jaan" to admire the beautiful and opulent period detail and Aishwarya Rai.

I saw the original movie when I was 10 back in 1982. Remakes of a successful film are always difficult because to many they will never live up to ones expectations. This one by JP Dutta was a great effort. Aishwariya looked and acted great and Abhishek had a haunting presence. And Shabana Azmi is her usual excellence. The music is wonderful - Anu Malik's stuff here is reminiscent of his "Refugee" soundtrack (which overall was better) but there are some real gems here especially "Tumhari mehfil mai aa gai hai" (gives me shivers). For many of us this movie will be nothing new - if you have seen the original or "Pakeezah" or even "Memoirs of a geisha". But it there are new and younger audiences out there who really should give it a try.

I've just seen this fantastic movie (twice in the theater), and the complaints I've heard about it completely escape me. It makes me wonder if they watched the entire movie, as the ending scenes are among the best ever filmed. For cultural reference and point of view, I am a 35 year old American male living in the United States and a fan of any good film.

This movie is incredible and an achievement in Bollywood film. There have been some really great movies coming out of Bollywood (and some great non-Bollywood is Black and Raincoat) recently such as Devdas and Lagaan. Both of those movies really showed off the best elements of typical BW, but both also had at least a little of the, well, cheese or melodrama that tends to show up in the standard Bollywood movie. Umrao Jaan had no melodrama (and hardly any comic relief either). The music and dancing element that is a staple of BW and in most movies seems to come out of nowhere was here given a foundation in reality and a reason for existence due to the main character's profession. Speaking of the main character, Aishwarya Rai as Umrao Jaan herself was perfect casting and she did an incredible job at real acting and never once hinted at melodrama. Most of the musical numbers belonged exclusively to Rai, and in fact she was in almost every shot in the entire movie.

One of the complaints is that this movie is too long. It was not too long but rather pretty average for BW, as it is only a few minutes longer than Devdas and is in fact shorter than Lagaan (at the time of this writing the run time was not given on IMDb.com, but my watch indicated about 210 minutes including intermission time). Another complaint is that it has too many songs. It did not have too many - there were six I believe which is about average for BW, and each one played an important part - especially the first and last songs in the movie. Besides their importance, the performances of the musical numbers were absolutely incredible - most of this was achieved on the shoulders of Rai - and after each musical number I seriously couldn't wait for the next one (hoping it would again feature Rai). Additionally, the songs themselves were absolutely amazing and fresh; real talent was behind the scenes here. The performance by Rai in the musical numbers was, to me, what completed the entire film.

I called this movie an achievement because it features only the BEST elements of BW while incorporating things that are new and different from the typical BW feature that only uplift it's credibility, reality, and entertainment value. The goal of the BW film is to transport the viewer to another reality, and this one does it better than any I've seen.

Poor Aishwariya Rai. To have had to suffer the indignity of being "the most beautiful woman in the world." It may sound like I'm being excessively sarcastic, but you're only half right. Rai, like many other actors before her, has had to contend with preconceived notions of her artistic abilities. What makes her unique is that she has also had to contend with the very thing which has brought her so much international attention: her looks.

Unlike India's other major screen mavens renowned for their beauty (Madhubala, Rekha, and Manisha Koirala among them) Rai's ethereal charms have consistently been lodged against her as proof that she is nothing but a plastic mannequin with the emotional range of a Barbie Doll. And until recently, her detractors have largely been right.

Bhansalli's "Hum Dil Dechuke Sanam," for all its puerility, showed that Rai deserved the title of "performer," if not "actress." His follow-up, the heinous melodramatic bloat called "Devdas," gave a glimpse into what was possible for Rai under the right set-up: she was, and remains, the only thing worth watching in a film that should have been called, "Paro." And now "Umrao Jaan" finally brings the inner being out which pronounces the arrival of Aishwariya Rai "the actress." While one may question J.P. Dutta's motives for filming a story already memorialized as a classic, one does not question his casting of the lead. As Ameeran/Umrao Jaan, Aishwariya at last achieves that elusive but indispensable acting necessity: emotional nudity. Regardless of whether one agrees with the film or the character, she cannot be faulted for turning in a hollow, soulless, or canned performance. Here she is fully in character, physically, aesthetically, emotionally—even psychologically. And while the film is melodramatic, Rai is decidedly not. She delivers the superficial necessities of the eponymous courtesan—breathtaking beauty and grace, and dances which are embodiments of both—but her performance is never subdued by the surface features of Umrao Jaan. Witness the scene in which she is repudiated by her aristocratic lover in his drunken stupor: the dual conjuring of disbelief and anger as she spits out the refrain, "Vah Re, Kismat" ("Oh, Fate.") is perfect in its subtlety. Barely moving her lips to deliver the curse of her fate, Rai demonstrates that she is capable of much more than is customarily delegated her way.

The film features a few lightweight actors, like Sunil Shetty, who is woefully wooden and miscast. One cannot help but pine for a menacing Shah Rukh Khan or a grunting Abhishek Bachchan in the part of Faiz Ali. Bachchan is, of course, present as Nawab Sultan, Umrao Jaan's only true love. Sadly, he delivers an uninspired portrayal of an aristocrat tormented by his desire for a courtesan. Dutta's casting is way off here as well. Sultan is frankly the kind of part screaming to be played by Ajay Devegan or Akshaye Khanna.

Much has been made of the fact that Shabana Azmi is playing the part of brothel keeper which her mother played in the 1981 film. Unfortunately, Dutta conceptualizes the part from a much more clichéd stock "mother" stereotype which lacks the bite and deformed morality which made the original so interesting. Perhaps a Rekha or Sridevi would have made the part more deliciously dramatic, making this a film about the forging and destroying of female bonds in a misogynistic world, rather than a romanticized portrayal of prostitution which ignores the fundamental questions of a woman-identified sanctuary for women in 19th century India. We'll have to wait until the story is absorbed by experimental feminist cinema—oddly enough, Muzaffar Ali's film deals with these issues rather lucidly. One thing I'd love to see is an adaptation by a female director- Mira Nair or Deepa Mehta could work unique wonders with such a story.

But back to Dutta. The main drawback of his film is its script. It is constructed as a chaptered retelling of the life of Umrao Jaan who recounts her memorable journey to the man who would later memorialize her in print. The film revolves around a ho-hum love story thrown on top of an absolutely awful introduction in which the kidnapped Ameeran inexplicably accepts her place in the brothel because it offers her material opulence. How many sheltered 10-year-old girls will accept the position of prostitute-in-training? Not many, I'm glad to say, but Dutta's film explains away the young victim's angst or torment as though she had been peddled off for a day at a carnival. Whatever the realities of life were for 19th century working class girls, the flippant caricature offered by Dutta was most definitely not it.

Comparisons between Dutta's and Ali's films are difficult to maintain, yet unavoidable. The plot/characterizations are sufficiently different, yet one cannot help but think of the peerless Rekha as Umrao Jaan. Despite Rai's earnest performance, designer costumes, and modernized mujras, Rekha continues to literally own Umrao Jaan. Few scenes can compare to Rekha's wordless devastation in the moment her lover has come to invite her to his wedding. Her longing, yearning, and rage all rally in her eyes as angry tears and she tears away Sultan's shirt without revealing the heart she longed to conquer. Not a single moment in Dutta's film approaches the depth of this scene, and so Dutta will have to settle for the embrace of the moment, if not of history.

The same holds for the film's music: Anu Malik's compositions are fine works of music, no doubt, but there are frankly too many of them and offer little range. Javed Akhtar's lyrics, however, deserve special mention, particularly the final lament "Poochrahe Hain Poochnewale." The final stanza of "Patthar Ab Kya Phenk Raheho, Hum Pehlese Zakhmi Hain" (Why do you cast your stones when I am already wounded?) bespeaks the brilliance that *should* have been. Alas.

And so the final word is that Aishwariya is a revelation, but the film tells us something we already know: a classic cannot be remade.

Despite being panned, I had hope that this film might be a fulfilling experience. The main problem with 'Umrao Jaan' is that it insists upon itself. It tries hard to be taken seriously, ergo, the script seems to be written by an eight grader who has just received a thesaurus and tries to impress his teacher by resorting to complex Lexis where simple words would do. Fact: J.P Dutta's version had all the makings of a grand tragedy: the ethereal main lead, her ashenly handsome love interest, haunting songs and magnificent sets and costumes.

Furthermore,the length of the film is exhaustive...I actually had to get up and move about for a bit in order to shake the cobwebs lining the inside of my cranium. The songs, though melodiously rendered, are far too many in number and get on one's nerves after a while. Also Dutta has shown 'Umrao Jaan' to be a love story gone sour. Having read Rusva's original I can safely say that the broad outlook of the novel was to provide the reader an insight into the life of a courtesan...the love story was just a part of the text and not the novel as a whole.

In conclusion, Umrao Jaan may be Aishwarya Rai's most powerful work till date and another feather in Shabana Azmi's cap but it is vaguely reminiscent of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' sans a true sense of tragedy.

I feel the movie requires a closer look. Superficially the scenes mite come out dry but look closer and you will see the reality that is staring you in your face. there is not adulteration of scenes by strong music.. just the raw reality.. Some of the scenes which seem shallow ..that is what it would be like in reality... it is slowly after the build up that the story starts to unfold... Aishwarya has pulled off the role of Umrao exceptionally well. The lyrics touch your heart with songs like "Pooch rahe hain".

Shabana Azmi has played every emotion with such authenticity.. she comes out as a mother, a shrewd woman.. protecting her sanctuary... Aishwarya has repeated her excellent performance of Raincoat here. Kudos to J.P. Dutta

Well... I thought this movie was awesome but I heard people groaning in the movie theater because there were too many songs or that it was too long.. First of all its a Indian movie so its going to be long it was 3 hours which is not that far from all the other Indian movies that run 2 to 2 and half hours... also its only recently that Indian movies have become so short if u look back to the movies in the 80s and even 90s they all average close to 4 hours long!! As for the songs... People it's an Indian movie there are going to be songs! Furthermore it's a movie about a poet/courtesan... um how else are you supposed to express the art of her words or her profession? Another thing is I think most Indians these days like the poor Indian versions of American movies... This movie lacked the random "it's the time to disco" or "where the party at is" one liner lyrics in its songs. It also didn't have a bunch of foreign people dancing naked in the back drop.. Sad…

After a long wait, J.P. Dutta's remake of Umrao Jaan is finally out and it's definitely worth the wait. Beautiful cinematography, exquisitely choreographed mujras (dances), and wonderful performances highlight this excellent film. In particular, Aishwarya Rai gives an amazing performance as Umrao -- she's back in true form with a character that allows her to show off her wide acting range. Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, and all the other actors shine in their characterizations. Anu Malik's music is superb and perfectly fits with the dance sequences. Overall, I thought the film really did justice to the classic 1981 version -- updating it and adding terrific song and dance sequences. Both versions tell a powerful story. It also reminded me a lot of Pakeezah (1971) and Devdas (2002) in theme, storyline, and visual design. Kudos to all involved.

Aishwarya Rai Has done a fantastic job portraying the character Umrao Jaan. Is there no end or line to her overwhelming beauty. The story is based around Ameeran later known as Umrao. As a child she is captured by thieves and sold into the dancer's community. her bad luck continues to be consistent throughout her life as she falls in love, but the two are not permitted to be together. The life Umrao wants she can never have. i particularly liked the idea of the film starting with Umrao as an old woman narrating her story to a famous poet who understands her words. the best part of the film by far is near the very end, a song where Umrao performs in sky blue clothing, back where she grew up. the crowd start mocking her but as she performs the song, she stops occasionally thinking back to her past life and all the bad luck she has had, and it is then that the crowd don't see the famous dancer, Umrao Jaan but see Ameeran instead. The worst comment that i could give on this film is that the first half is n a different class to the second half as it took a while for me to start thinking about what i was seeing, however the second half definitely makes up for it. well done Aishwarya!

J.P. Dutta directs Umrao Jaan, the second film adaptation of Mirza Hadi Ruswa's 1905 novel "Umrao Jaan Ada", which tells the story of the famous Lucknow courtesan. Although Dutta claimed to have based the film on the novel, it is clearly more a remake of the 1981 film version, directed by Muzaffar Ali and starring Rekha. The 1981 film was lavish, powerful and beautiful and is a famous musical classic. Rekha's heartfelt performance as Umrao Jaan remains till date one of the finest performances of not only her career but of Indian cinema in general. So obviously one would go on to compare the two versions, and needless to say, the 1981 film is and will always be associated with this title. This new version is not very bad. It is pleasing to the eye, it has some nice songs, great costumes, and Aishwarya Rai looks impossibly beautiful. However, the film is lacking in substance, in emotion and it lacks the power to excite.

In comparison to Rekha, Aishwarya Rai is frankly more of an amateur (and I'm not one of those who hate her). Rekha's line delivery, her non-verbal emotions, her pain, her expressive eyes being occasionally filled with tears, and above all her dance numbers which are some of the most memorable in the history of Indian films, were so soulful. Aishwarya, though stunning in looks and evidently trying to do her best, simply does not have the ability to recreate this magic. She does have her moments, but that's as far as it goes and it is hardly a good performance. Moreover, her dance numbers are overly mechanical. Anu Malik's soundtrack is good and the great Alka Yagnik sings the songs beautifully, but then again, when compared to Khayyam's unforgettable songs performed to perfection by Asha Bhosle in the original version, is nothing exceptional.

Another much talked about role in the film is that of Khanum Jaan, played by Shabana Azmi. Azmi plays a role her own mother, Shaukat Azmi, played in the original version. She seems to have a lot of fun with the minimal job her character lets her do and surprisingly does not really take her role seriously, as she rightly admitted in an interview. That's okay, even accomplished actors like Azmi are allowed to have fun, and that's what actually makes her portrayal the more so entertaining. As for Abhishek Bachchan, the less said about him, the better. Even on its own, Umrao Jaan does not hold water. It is melodramatic, uninspiring and poorly directed. Aishwarya's presence and the film's visuals cannot save it from being just another unsuccessful and forgettable attempt to remake a classic.

I happened to watch original Umrao Jann just a few days back by chance and instantly fell for classic movies. As soon as this remake was released i went especially to theater to watch and i didn't regret as it was equally good. Story was not completely a copy of original one ,instead some more good ideas were added. I think it wont be fair to both REKHA and ASH to compare them with each other as both performed equally well and were a perfect choice for the character as it demanded some thing beyond than just the verbal performance. Songs are really touchy esp SALAAM and JIS ZINDAGE NAY AP SE MILWA DIYA HAMAIN. Though the duration of the movie is too long for the typical Indian movie (which is the only not-so-good aspect to some extent) but if considered it was inevitable for such a story. Its not that Abhishak didn't perform well, he did an OK job, its just that he doesn't have the typical NAWAB FEATURES, or may b we are looking forward to his upcoming DHOOM 2 featuring him as the cool cop, so perhaps having that image in mind i just couldn't digest him playing a NAWAB in this movie. Rest the sets were good and the costumes too, though the dialogs if written with more depth would have added more to it. Anyway overall everybody did a good job. And one last thing,even if the movie didn't do well on box office, Ash should get best actress award this year. What do u say??

There are less reasons for why you should not watch Umraao Jaan than why you should watch. If you're looking for a movie with heart, then this is the one. In a rush of making comic, action and exotic foreign locale movie, this movie is the answer to all those who think the only way of making a good movie is by going to foreign counties and spending big cash with a exaggerated larger than life image to the movie.

The biggest heroes of Umraao Jaan are its screenwriter, the veteran Mr. O.P. Dutta and the director himself J.P. Dutta, music director Anu Malik, lyricist Javed Akhthar, singer Alka Yagnik, choreographers Saroj Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant, and of course most importantly Aishwarya Rai. The original story by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa is bigger than just saying fabulous. Abhishek Bachchan and Shabana Azmi too deliver great performances. Thorugh the only place I find the movie obtrusive is its production design and prop department, the rest of the movie is perhaps the best movie of the year. No doubts Aishwarya Rai will be nominated for at least Best Actress this year.

So what is bad about this movie.. Well just one fact that the movie is a bit too long and one easily loses patience till he reaches the end. Expect for those dozing heads in the theatre I saw, I must say it is a film I really like and though musical classics is not really my cup of tea, this one is. If I slightly compare it with Devdas, I see Umraao Jaan has got a bit drier texture as Devdas was more juicier.

The obvious comparison I would like to draw is with Don that release two weeks ago. Well, both are adapted screenplays but see how Don was full of errors while this one Umraao Jaan done by a veteran who has spent about 50 years making movies. Well, breathtaking exhilarating and what more I can say? The artists and the producers have made a 100% input and its worthwhile but the question is if today's crowd likes such movies? That now depends upon the public to make this movie a success or a failure.

This is a great movie. Go and watch it.

When i went to see this movie , i came to know its 20 reels. thought i would be shattered for all those reels... but its something else when i came out of theatre.

The dialouges, performances, direction, music, screenplay.. all needs a great applause. I felt i had a great movie to watch.

Ash's performance is amazing.. i didn felt that she is ash.. in fact seen Ameeran/Umrao... I can rate this film is her best in her career. Apart from Abhishaik everyone were near to nativity of the film. Abhishaiks performance is quite good.

i really amazed to see the director's care towards dialouges.. they used only urdu to most of the most cases.

no words to express.. but surely i can say..

I saw this movie last night, and I must say, this was a great movie. This is just the type of movie i was expecting, since i'm a lover of good Cinema. Ever since "Devdas" And "Veer-zara" i haven't seen a movie so touching and so well made as "Umrao Jaan". With excellent sets, songs, story, and awesome performance by the actors. This is not the type of flick that some people might be used to, because this is a classical. And about Ash's acting skills I have to say, that this is her best so far. She looks stunning and the dances, are superb. I think she deserves to win the "Best Actress Award", because I haven't seen any other that can measure-up to her. This is the best female character this year, I can't see no one better for the job than Aishwarya. For all those people who dislikes her and that talk badly about her, watch this movie and you will change your mind. I was not an Ash fan because I thought she was just a pretty face but she has proved that not only is she pretty but also that she is a good actress.

Umrao Jaan Ada was a much awaited movie for all of us!!especially for young generation to re feel the magic woven in a novel in 1905!! But it was big let down with Lack Lustrous performances by everybody-be it the director,dialog writer, music director ,lyricist or as a matter of fact the protagonist herself! The screenplay had its own flaws-being fast at those scenes which required to be handled with sensitivity and being slow at scenes which were deliberately screeched to monotonous dialogs! The saving grace were glimpses of Abhishek Bachchan -which unfortunately left viewers in lurch to ask for more of his screen space!!! The length of the movie was too much...viewers got bored with same kind of costumes and same kind of lyrics...All the songs sound similar!! (SOMETHING NOT EXPECTEDOUT OF JAVED AKHTAR AND ANU MALIK) I'd however not like to compare the movie with the 1981 Muzaffar Ali creation.......as it would be an insult to the original magic spelled by the pioneers like Muzaffar Ali and Rekha.

This movie is a great presentation of the novel. It's a real classic if you have the taste. I think teenagers won't find much in this movie. But it is a must watch for the people who are mature and grown and seen different aspects of life. The costumes, jewelry, and sets are very good. The make up, on screen beauty and acting of Aishwarya is stunning. The dialogues and lyrics are also very good. Shabana has played her role very well. Abhishek has done OK but not very well while Sunil Shetty on the other hand has done better in his comparatively short appearance. Divya dutta and Ayesha Julka didn't have much scope. The director has concentrated completely on Aishwary and she has proved her worth very well in this movie. Probably the best performance by Aishwary so far. God, she looks stunning even at the age of 33 when most of the Bollywood actress are married and retired. All in all it's a must watch for the people who have taste for such movies.

I saw both old (1981) and new Umrao Jaan (2006). The old Umrao, I think, is one of the best movies (Indian or otherwise), at par with any famed-Satyajit Ray. It should NOT be even compared with the new Umrao Jaan. The problem is that it is so good that Muzaffar Ali (the producer of old Umrao from Lucknow where most of the movie unfolds) perhaps cannot make a better movie all his life.

The old Umrao is very restrained, and therefore, a believable story of a Lucknow tawa-if (courtesan, geisha). There are no brave heroes (all flee 1857 Sepoy Mutiny against the English), the robber Faiz Ali dies in an unheroic escape. Owner of house of tawaifs, Madam Khanum, is selfish and exploitative. Nawab Sultan, one of the first clients of Umrao, sees Umarao what she is - a tawaif and abandons her with no compunctions to marry into the wealthy family of her cousin; others hurl insults at Umrao. There is a thin line (if any) between a tawaif and a prostitute/hooker - old Umrao sleeps with Nawab Sultan as a matter of routine, and then with the robber Faiz Ali.

In old Umrao Urdu poetry (ghazal) is shown to be pervasive in the lives of tawaifs and all around her. The dialogs are in lyrical, delicate and local Urdu, difficult to be appreciated in translation. In old Umrao, acting is superb by all. Songs and Indian Kathak dances (minus one by Nawab Sultan) are mostly in context.

Good movies like good books can enrich and teach. Most Indian movies are trash, fantastic escape from reality but not old Umrao Jaan. You could see Lucknow of a bygone era. Sample these:

• pigeon flight contests (or kabootar baazi, a flock breaking pigeons mid flight from a rival flock) - Indian hop scotch (ikkal dukkal) - the earthen stove (or choolha) - the custom of eating with hands in the kitchen on the floor near choolha - the custom of offering for a saint's shrine (nazar at durgaah) - the custom of arranged marriage between Muslim cousins - the custom of purdah, - the custom of eating betel leaf (or paans) and hookah smoking - the tradition of sellers of bangles and shawls coming home - the incompetent contemptible and indolent nawabs who would sell part of the estate for a courtesan

See old Umrao if you have not yet; see it again if you have once. Technically, the photography in old Umrao is not as high quality as in the new one but then in 25 years cameras have improved a lot.

Old Umrao gets 9/10; the new 3/10.

Though movie is set to the period of late 19th century but there are many goofs. 1) Handpump shown in the movie is of India Mark II (http://www.skipumps.com/deepwell.htm) which came into existence around 1980.

2) Tiled swimming pool and hose pipe were also not available during that time.

3) Costume of Nawab is of pathani touch no where near to Lucknowi.

4) During mutiny time almost everyone was fleeing from Lucknow to Faizabad or any other city, but movie shows only Aishwarya and her friends going in cart.

i loved this film it was great, Sunil Shetty looked so hot with eyeliner on, and Abishek Bachan was just so cool on the horse, Aishwarya Rai was looking gorgeous then ever, and just the whole acting crew was great! I cried it seemed so real. Shabana Azmi was so great and gave the whole film that extra spark.

The scenery, the music, the dance everything was perfect, people were actually clapping at the end of the movie.A great movie with everything you need, romantic, comedy, action, thrilling and with a lot of suspense! Definitely a movie to watch. I would rate this movie the movie of the year!

That's the feeling I had walking away from the cinema after seeing Umrao Jaan last evening. That and the fact that the feeling that Aishwarya Rai has outdone herself with this role. I was completely floored. I have always heard that God would never give one person more than they can bear, but with everything that happened to Umrao Jaan in this film just makes you wonder how she could have taken even the first blow. I decided to wait 24 hours before writing my review but even still I have the same feelings. This film was so good and every single person involved with it was in their element! I tip my hat to JP Dutta and his relentlessness in making sure that the film did not go to the dumps in the hands of the detractors. He has proved once again why he is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to directing in Indian Cinema. The Delightful Divya Dutta & Suave Suniel Shetty (in a very predictable role) co-star.

It's a very difficult task to outshine someone like Shabana Azmi, a woman whose screen presence rivals that of Betty Davis, Katherine Hepburn and then some. It is very hard to halt a rolling stone like Abhishek Bachchan (whose hurricane-like performances in Sarkar, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Yuva & Refugee) despite his super famous daddy seems to be carving out his own niche in Bollywood. But surprisingly in spite of all of this, Aishwarya Rai held her own and then some. She hit it straight into the stratosphere. She CAME, She SAW & She CONQUERED as the title character.

We meet Umrao as she begins to tell the story of her life to a solicitor and from this flashback we learn the tale of how she was once known as a young girl named Ameeran. She was kidnapped by an enemy of her father's for revenge and sold into a brothel headed by an opium smoking entity of a woman named Khanum Sahib played by the incomparable Shabana Azmi. In this brothel Ameeran receives new parents and is brought up in the life of art, music & poetry. Young Ameeran's named is then changed to Umrao and she eventually blossoms into a stunningly ravishing young lady now played by Bollywood's Queen with the bag of tricks, Aishwarya Rai. All seems to be going swimmingly well until Umrao meets Nawab Sultan (Abhishek Bachchan) on the eve of her very first Mujra for the brothel, and sparks between them fly. IMHO, Umrao the scene in which Umrao looks the most beautiful in the entire film, is in that very first scene where the two characters meet. When she lifted her veil, the entire audience just gasped (I felt so proud of Aishwarya). This meeting would mark the beginning of the end for the woman known as Umrao Jaan, as it starts to become apparent from here on that fate has cast an evil eye upon her glory with the events that follow her tempestuous & torrid affair with the infamous Nawab Sultan.

Aishwarya Rai has never done a Mujra before for a film and it seemed all the more fitting that she performed many along with her first in this film. Mujra lovers are in for a treat but Mujras aside, Aishwarya Rai has given the performance of a lifetime with this role. You have never seen her like this before. She captured the very essence of Umrao Jaan, the girl, the woman, and the legend. For the first time, Aishwarya's beauty took a backseat and allowed her to come out of her shell. If she does not win nominations for this role next year, then it would be out of pure malice. She nailed it people! She nailed it!

We read mixed reviews about Umrao Jaan...one is always apprehensive when going to see a remake of such a classic...not sure what to expect..I found the whole tone of the movie to be so morbid and Grey. Sure it is the story of pain but it is not told with grace. THe problem with the movie is definitely the way in which it is told. In most of the scenes the character of Umarao is shown crying weeping or fearful ..quite the opposite of a courtesan's character which is about presentation entertainment. Good scenes fail to make an impact. And the choreography is terrible too...merchant has done a terrible job no grace!!! All in all don't waste your time on this movie

I do not understand what was the need to re-make a classic without doing the home work. my second language was Urdu and it was so disturbing to hear the word Sangeet twice, at the start of the film, instead of Mouseeqi.

Aishwarya should have also taken diction classes for the language when she thought of brushing her dancing skills.

JP Dutta has come up with a utter disappointment for the lovers of Urdu language in form of Umrao Jaan. And wasn't the attraction between Umrao Jaan and Nawab Sultan based on their love of poetry. All I remember was one couplet. Phew!

We all know Aishwarya Rai was crowned Miss World....but isn't she an actor now? So she should leave her crown behind and practise her acting skills more. I mean she didn't even get the word Khuda right in the film. And what was about trying sound like Rekha when she and Abhishek were parting ways? Strange bouts of husky voice.

Argh!

This movie is strictly for those people who have not seen the earlier Umraao Jaan. Because they will compare and this one would fail miserably.

The script was badly written, the characters looked like they had not done any homework, especially suniel shetty, who seemed to be a character who was just taken in the movie for the sake of it. No attention was paid to the details like Suniel shetty's shoes. Aishwarya just danced well, and managed look well, a very good job done by the make-up artiste.

The only actor who performed extremely well, in spite of those over decked up sets was Shabana Azmi. Her's was the only character, which made some sense. As neither did blow-in blow-out nostrils(Ash) nor the last moment entry(suniel) did. Abhishek was good, though his character didn't seem to be well-defined enough. Some of his scenes were longer than they should had been, however, he managed to portray them well.

Muzaffar Ali made the classic "Umrao Jaan" in 1981 starring Rekha, Farooq Sheikh, Naseeruddin Shah, and Raj Babbar. Compared to that, this one is entirely unwatchable.

The screenplay is terrible and barely maintains the viewer's interest for the first hour. Only towards the end is there any noticeable flow to the story. Casting is fine, but Sunil Shetty does not fit the bill of Faiz Ali.

The language of Lucknow is Urdu, and, unlike what some other commentators claim, the movie does not employ a correct version of the language. The dialect used by some characters is also incorrect. Dialogues are horrible, and Aishwarya's pronunciation of Urdu words is absolutely revolting. Umrao Jaan was an Urdu poetess, and Aishwarya does not do her justice. The playback singers, however, are excellent, especially Alka Yagnik.

Being a native of Lucknow, I know that we do not use "Baisa", "Mausa", "Apshagun", "Maan maryada" etc, especially among Muslim families, to which all the movie's characters belong. Yet, JP Dutta pays no attention to these important details, and the characters continue to use these and other wrong terms.

The characters' wardrobe is not comparable to period Lucknow or to Muzaffar Ali's version of the movie, despite Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla's involvement.

JP Dutta's Umrao Jaan is a low budget pretender of a movie, with Aishwarya's looks being the only redeeming factor.

Stay away from this film. Watch Muzaffar Ali's original version, if you can. That was a pleasure to watch.

2/10.