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Umrao Jaan (Aishwarya Rai) - 2006 [DVD] |
Overall Rating
My Rating
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Not Rated |
| Year : |
2006 |
| Lang : |
Hindi |
| Genre : |
Drama |
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The real wealth of people is their culture and literary work. Which reflects the times, the place and the people.
One such work was Mirza Hadi Ruswa's Umrao Jaan Ada. Ruswa was a teacher in mathematics, science, philosophy & Persian. Ruswa was born in 1857 in Licknow and his parents died when he was 16 years old. 'Ruswa ` means a person without reputation. After going through the book, many literary minds felt that Ruswa could have named it 'Kahani Avadh Ki` or ' Sham-e-Avadh' , because it is a vivid depiction of life in Avadh. But then, 'Sham-e-Avadh' or 'An Evening in Avadh' means 'mehfils' of song and dance and gatherings of poets and the literati - a veritable celebration of life�And any such evening would be inconceivable without the presence of Umrao Jaan Ada. A courtesan and a poetess in her own right, Umrao Jaan was a name to be reckoned with in any description of life in Avadh. If Lucknow was the heart of Avadh. Umrao was the heart beat.
When she first came to Lucknow, she was Amiran, the eight year old daughter of a lower middle class family. Her father was a Jamadar at the 'Bahu Begum ka Makhbara' in Faizabad. A pious and simple man, he gave evidence in a case against Dilawar Khan, a habitual offender. Dilawar was sentenced to jail for ten years. After finishing his sentence Dilawar came out, only to kidnap little Amiran, cart her to Lucknow and sell her to a kotha owned by the astute Khanum Sahib. This was the vengeance and a few rupees as bonus. "Let her suffer a death worse than a death," he said.
A kotha in that age, especially that of Khanum was not only a cultural hub known for excellence in performing arts but also a temple of learning - learning the art of living. As an inmate of the kotha, little Amiran benefited the most. Khanum gave her the name 'Umrao', Bua Hussaini brought her up in style. Maulvi Sahib imparted education; Khan Sahib initiated her into the world of music while the great Kathak Acharya made her feet move to rhythm. In the company of Bismillah, Khurshid and Gauhar Mirza, Umrao developed varied skills including poetry. The pen name "Ada" was ample proof of proficiency in writing and presenting poetry that she went on to acquire.
Graduating in years, Umrao become a rage in Lucknow. A beauty that was stunning, a manner that was enticing and words that were soul stirring, made the name of Umrao Jaan mean sheer joy of watching and listening. Stepping into youth, she had to seek the love of her life. His name was Nawab Sultan. With the whole of Avadh at her feet. Umrao craved for Sultan's company. Somewhere deep inside her being, she had a dream of a husband, a family and a home. She chased her dream from one end of the rainbow to the other.
Would she realize her dream ever? Would she come face to face with Amiran once again? |
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| Member Reviews |
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| 9 members reviews for this DVD |
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ash at her near best  |
PRAFUL DESAI |
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| loved this movie as i had never seen the orignal with rekha.one up for ash. |
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Very good movie  |
Sean Kesavan |
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| Pleased to see a good movie with beautiful songs after a long time. Aishwarya Rai is just marvellous in this one |
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Not horrible  |
JANEAR JONES |
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| I think that its a movie that if you want to see, watch but believe me you're not missing anything. I wasn't truly interested until the second half and even then I wanted more, that I never got. The only good thing I gathered was that Aishwarya did look great and Abhishek was sexy. That's all that I brought away from this film. |
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Bejaan !!  |
member |
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| Very bad direction, mediocre performances, director/script writer has changed some of the events of the original novel to suit the status of some of the stars of his fim. |
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| Good movie |
Mr. Bollywood |
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| enjoyed the songs.... |
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| Flawed, but worthy viewing |
Giselle Velazquez |
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| The film has several flaws: too long, excess songs, sometimes clumsy writing. But Aishwarya really excels in the role of Umrao Jaan, tapping into emotions we hadn't seen her portray on the screen before. Abhishek, Shabana and Suniel fulfill their roles aptly, but are not given enough to do. Songs are generally good, even if there are too many of them. Worth a rental. |
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| Mughal Melodrama |
Ganapati Durgadas |
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| What a sumptious movie. Almost archetypal in its presentation. Romanticism with a capital "R". A well-wrought, opulently filmed classic, up there with DevDas. An added treat was the unexpected Shabana Azmi as the crafty, mother-like Madam, chewing up the screen with paan in cheek and hookah in hand.. Aishwarya dominated the screen, as did most of the female characters, relegating all the males to the deserved background. Even Abhishek with his compressed moodiness paled in comparison to Aishwarya's full-bodied character. |
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| Hats off to Ash |
AKS |
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Aishwarya Rai looks ethereal. She has given the best performance of her career so far in this movie. She captures the nuances of her character convincingly. She credibly brings forth the longings, unfulfilled desires and pain of Umrao Jaan. A commendable performance indeed.Abhishek Bachchan is up to the mark, although one strongly feels that he’s capable of so much more. Shabana Azmi is superb Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Himani Shivpuri lend good support. Divya Dutta and Ayesha Julka leave a mark in brief roles.
J.P. Dutta seems to have put his heart and soul into making this period film. It must be admitted that the movie’s music is not that great. After listening to the timeless compositions of Khayyam in Muzaffar Ali’s movie, it is perhaps a little harsh on Anu Malik to expect something similar from him. Yet, the film seems to drag everytime a song comes up. |
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| Ash at her best |
member |
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| Aishwarya was simply outstanding in this film. Her performance was the best I've seen by any actress all year. The movie itself was very slow and dragged at times. The music is a highlight of the movie. It doesn't compare with the original but it is really good. Watch it just for Aishwarya. Her performance will leave you stunned! Plus she excels in all the songs/mujras. Definitely the front runner for the best actress award. |
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