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		Home > Bollywood Movie Reviews > Umrao Jaan Superficial Remake Of A Pseudo-Classic APK | November 03, 2006 Rating: ** (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad) Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri, Puru Raaj Kumar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ayesha Jhulka, Bikram Saluja, Parikshit Sahani, Maya Alagh, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Javed Khan, Bansree Madhani and Others. Art: Bijon Das Gupta. Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant. Cinematography: Ayananka Bose. Costumes: Bindiya Dutta. Music: Anu Malik. Lyrics Javed Akhtar. Story & Dialogues: OP Dutta. Editing, Producer & Director: JP Dutta. Banner: JP Films. Release Date: 3rd November, 2006. After Don, another remake in the queue-Umrao Jaan. When the sultry Rekha and Farooque Sheikh did Muzaffar Ali's screen adaptation of Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa's 'Umrao Jaan Ada', it was appreciated. Coming to this one, director JP Dutta gave the successful war flick 'Border', followed by dismal duds 'Refugee' and 'Loc-Kargil'. Ash-Abhishek's so-called affair created a bit of publicity, but none of it is worth it. The original story set in 19th century Lucknow about a 'Tawaif' touch people's hearts, but JP's take on it only manages to touch some irritated nerves. Read on. Plot Amiran is kidnapped and sold off to Khanum Sahib (Shabana Azmi) and rechristened Umrao Jaan. She grows up missing her poor but respectable parents, but growing comfortable to the luxurious life that the house has to offer along with getting trained in poetry and Mujra. After the first performance, Nawab Sultan (Bachchan) and Umrao fall for each other and romance blossoms. But Sultan is disowned by his father for seeing the courtesan too much, and she has to wait for him to go and seek his fortunes to get her back. Meanwhile a dacoit-disguised-as-a-Nawab, Faiz Ali (Sunil Shetty) has his eyes on Umrao and thus the story goes on, where she is a victim of men and circumstances, and has no freedom to lead a normal life. Story, screenplay and direction JP has always been an over-rated filmmaker. 'Border' was just a fluke. Loc-Kargil, Refugee and now Umrao Jaan have proved that his skills are not up to the mark. There is absolutely no entertainment, a whole lot of superficiality, no substance and no soul. A story like that of Umrao's or any other person in the flesh trade for that matter, is bound to touch hearts, but JP's narration only makes one wonder when the movie will end. There is a snail pace in the movie and very few moments those makes one sit up and take notice. A movie like Chandni Bar for instance, made on a tiny budget, hit people on the face and woke everyone up. Now that was a touching tale that was made with feeling. Dutta has no sympathy for Umrao and that comes through. The story is not as important as the way it is told-and that is where the director comes in, and that is where he fails. The fact that 'Mujra' or 'Tawaif' are out-dated terms has nothing to do with it-a period film can work, and the best example is 'Lagaan'. This story could have been moving, touching, beautiful, poetic-but it is none of these, not even with the poetry that Umrao dishes out, not even with the romance between Umrao and Nawab Sultan. The scene where the author comes to visit the old Umrao and praises her and calls her 'Umrao Jaan Ada', she mocks herself saying 'Kaunsi Umrao, Kiski Jaan, Kaisi Ada?' which is good along with the part where she finally meets Sultan and the part where she meets the guy who sold her off begging on the road long after and gives him alms and prays for his forgiveness. Performances The good news is that Ash is not plastic in this. She fits the role of Umrao, shakes away the ghost of the predecessor who performed the role with élan (Rekha) and she dances like a dream. This is one of her better performances. The bad news is that it is not going to be appreciated as much, because very few people are going to end up seeing it, as sadly, the movie does not have anything-neither substance nor entertainment. Abishek debuted with JP's Refugee and people thought he could not act, but from Yuva he sizzled. Baby Bachchan seems to believe in mentor Dutta, and when the Captain told him to practice two and only two expressions, he complied. He has a charm and a presence that you cannot take away, but this is not one of his best roles but understandably, an actor craves variety. Shabana Azmi does complete justice to her role, and watching her one sees the real difference between performers and non-performers. She's a complete natural and very graceful. Sunil Shetty is well off sticking to cameos like this. Ayesha Jhulka and Divya Dutta have little to do, but do justify their small roles and fit into the characters. Song and dance To understand the movie and the songs, a basic understanding of Urdu is needed to appreciate the meaning of the songs. One can see Madhuri perform those Mujras and render those lines with feeling in her eyes. Although 'Ice'warya is surprisingly emotive here and dances very well, she only comes a close second. But she looks ethereal and beautiful, and the song and dance part of the movie is good courtesy Akhtar and Ash. And the verdict is.. Dutta doesn't deliver, but if you've had the misfortune of having watching his previous failures, you would ask me, "So what's new?" JP's 'Jaan' lacks a soul.