Umrao Jaan Reviews

• A mesmerising period piece!

  
  By A1POFVVXUZR3IQ on 2008-01-15
  Having been a fan of the 1981 classic starring Rekha in the title role, I wasn't sure what to expect, but was more than staisfied by the amazing performances in this movie. The story centers around an aging courtesan Umrao Jaan Ada who tells her life story to another poet through a series of flashbacks.
  
  The title character is played to convincing effect by Aishwarya Rai. It is not just her luminous beauty that shines through here - every facial expression, the lift of an eyebrow, her smile, her tears, are all beievable in conveying her character's emotions. The dance sequences were also very good - I never thought of Aishwarya as a great dancer until this movie, the movements are so natural, and authentic. Rekha, in the original was an amazing dancer too, and both in their own unique ways bring the character of Umrao Jaan to glorious life on screen.
  
  Umrao Jaan's love interest, Nawab Sultan is played convincingly by Abshishek Bachchan, and their on-screen chemistry practically sizzles [they are now a real-life married couple]. Each love scene is beautifully and subtly done, and comes across as tender with an underlying passion that is hard to miss.
  
  There are also secondary characters in this movie that deserve mention - namely, the brothel owner, Khanum Sahib, played by veteran actress Shabana Azmi. Her character's greed for wealth is also touched by some shred of humanity, and very well done. Sunil Shetty plays the dacoit who lusts after Umrao, and his character comes across as savage and ruthless whilst also tender when faced by Umrao's dazzling beauty and finesse.
  
  The songs are all beautiful, and the costumes and sets simply sumptuous. This is definitely one of the best Bollywood musicals to come along, enhanced by a compelling plot and credible acting. Highly recommended period piece!
  
  

• See if for Aishwarya

  
  By A78GH8AIBMJSS on 2007-01-15
  This film is quite possibly Aishwarya Rai's greatest performance. She easily holds this film together in the title role and lends an enormous dignity to the character of Umrao Jaan. She wonderfully translates the feeling of a woman who just can't fight her fate. Beautiful piece of cinema.
  
  

• Simply beautiful

  
  By A39O5U7UDZ6Y96 on 2007-08-27
  I agree that this is perhaps Aishwayra Rai's finest work (and I've seen most of them). Umrao Jaan's story is fascinating, uplifting, and heartbreaking all at the same time. The photoggraphy, costumes, and music are spectacular. The way the two stars express their character's love for each other, using nothing but their eyes, is sheer brilliance.
  
  

• Totally Underrated

  
  By A1Z3KNDSSLE86 on 2007-01-12
  This movie was amazing. Aishwarya did a wonderful job as Umrao Jaan! Its sad that this movie did not get what it deserved at the box office- this is one of the most underrated movies. The story is a classic, so you know that there will be no flaw there- the movie lies in the acting and songs- which are amazing. Aishwarya gave an outstanding performance, the movie was very beautiful (the colors and sets are gorgeous). Aishwarya looked stunning in this movie.
  This movie is one of the best bollywood movies!
  
  

• A great love story of times...a true classic...!

  
  By A2YV89MCZ6TNQS on 2007-01-21
  Umrao Jaan had great potential to become one of the renowned classics of the world cinema, had the screenwriter and the director had the foresight to know when to end the movie.
  
  The plot had all the tools of a successful story, well told, superbly acted both by Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan. They excelled themselves once more, projecting a great love, that never went stale nor it lost its intensity of passion. The essence of the movie was a love story that ended in tragedy and it should have never turned into a life story. When the couple parted and she returned home, to the brothel in Lucknow that should have been the end, for anything that came after that was anticlimactic and only tried the patience of the audience.
  
  A movie should only have one great climax scene, and that came with the crisis when Nawab Sultan disowned her. Resolution should have followed immediately. We know that her life as we knew it ended there and possibly she became a living corpse. So why digress, diluting the effect of the climax adding another crisis scene, such as the rejection of her family?
  
  We all know that in a society that public affection is forbidden even to this day it is obvious that she could not go home again, so why bother to show it? And the purpose of the last wedding scene where she performed escaped me. If it was to add another song it just served to bore the viewers.
  
  J.P. Dutta will be wise to edit the ending of the movie, making it shorter, and release it again for the sake of saving a great piece of art from permanent oblivion.
  
  Annie S. Cian
  
  
• Beautiful
  By A1TAZZ2355GO4B on 2007-05-18
  Beautiful movie, opulent costumes and backdrops. Aishwarya looks stunning and all the actors give great performances. Lovely to watch!
  
  It's obvious that Umrao Jaan is the center of attention throughout the movie (it basically revolves around her) but I feel it's at the expense of other characters that I wish would have been covered in more depth as they were also interesting characters in their own right. This could have easily been done while keeping Umrao Jaan in the limelight.
  
  A few minor glitches:
  
  I found a bit silly was how a feared and infamous dacoit like Faiz Ali could ever be careless enough to lose his weapon, and/or would fail to have another weapon handy if such an incident did occur.
  
  The second half does move a bit slow and lose momentum and the end was a little anticlimactic.
  
  Other than that, an enjoyable film.
  
  
• bollywood's best
  By A38JPJA2NUMWXP on 2007-10-05
  this is a stunning film -- the acting, the costumes, the direction, the lavish sets, the story, the music, the dancing, all are first rate. i have watched it at least a dozen times already. this is my favorite bollywood film so far. i found the story moving and beautiful, and moved by the human condition of being an outcast of society. prostitution is a blight in any culture, bringing shame to families, and umrao jaan's fate to live her life "in a golden cage" is tragic. i am glad the story wasn't cut as a couple of viewers suggested. i found each scene relevant and was glad it covered her life including her waning years. the movie never dragged or lulled for me at all. her pleas with others not to treat her as an outcast because as a prostitute she dared to love was very moving. i highly recommend this movie. i love to see abischek and aish together, they make a beautiful couple. bravo, bravo!
  
  
• Unbelievable story!
  By A21XVS00AIENLX on 2007-10-23
  This is story-telling at its finest. Director JP Dutta deserves an Oscar, and so does Ashwarya Rai. A few reviewers mentioned that the movie was too long or that there were too many climaxes. Hindi films typically average 3 hours because Indian audiences really get into the story-telling and the melodramatic love themes.
  
  Unlike a lot of Bollywood films, Umrao Jaan shows not one one streak of campiness. The story is bittersweet and extremely poignant. You can truly identify with Umrao Jaan's plight, but some Western audiences might miss that because they're conditioned to shorter length films and incongruency with the bright coloring. Western films with dark themes tend to be dark overall: dark mood, dark lighting, dark soundtrack--everything is dark. Bollywood films don't follow this formula. Sad films still have color to them. Songs tend to be more melodramatic. The characters often cry silently and part slowly from one another. While their reactions are overtly sad, the feeling in the scene is very well conveyed. I dabbed at my eyes a few times myself. You don't see much poignancy in Western films lately which is a shame.
  
  The screenplay was superb. Talk about unlucky. This poor lady was just kicked to the curb by nearly everyone. At least she was able to enjoy a few moments of happiness in her troubled life. Your heart really goes out to her. And I liked the ending. It was not a cheater's ending. What a challenging role, and Aishwarya Rai mastered it! In fact, the acting was excellent all around. Additionally, the dancing, costumes, cinematography, bittersweetness, and lyrics to the songs were all in line with the theme of the story. This film was very well done and thought through. Next to Lagaan and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, this is my third favorite Bollywood film.
  
  This film deserves at least an award or two.
  
  
• Very Enjoyable
  By A3T990I6HXFMNW on 2008-01-03
  I am not such a fan of Aishwarya, but her performance here is good. I still feel she comes out a little fake here and there, and granted, she can manipulate her eyes as much as technology manipulates the color of them. The worst part of the movie is Abhishek... he plays a very very lame Sultan, never seems to accomplish a genuine facial expression, and for some reason can't stand quite straight showing a hunchback. Shabana Azmi is just spectacular, as always. I am no expert in South Asian music and singing, but I am a musician and I found the music and the singer to be just exquisite! The photography is also outstanding, not to mention the perfect costumes. The dancing performances are good, but for some reason I find Aishwarya to be a little too technical with limited natural grace (I wonder how Madhuri Dixit would have uplifted this character with her limitless grace).
  I think the story (without watching Rekha's version) has a strong feminist message in the sense that Shabana's character was able to attain a very powerful position in society as a lonely woman. I know I know it is a brothel, but it is supposed to be a very high-profile one! For the time, the location and the whole setting of the story, the brothel I think represents a way in which women find enourmous power, voice and independence, even more than being a respected wife. At the end, women's arms are strongest around a man's neck right? In the microcosmos of the brothel, women are protected from the cruel oppresion of outside; beautifully explained by Shabana's character. The 'love' aspect is questionnable in real life; if any, it is South Asian society which has proven that infatuation-based love does not persist as much as reason-based relationships such as arranged marriages, and love as a result of time spent together, and not butterflies in the stomach. I think women at the brothel enjoyed of more liberties (artistic preparation, fame, jewels, fine dresses, great standard of living, servitude, and the option of choosing one's sex partner) the trade-off is the reputation of course. Looking at Ameeran's mother, and at Shabana's character, I think Shabana's had a much better life overall.
  Good movie, nice slow pace and very very enjoyable experience.
  
  
• painful beauty
  By A3IHF7280ONJUC on 2008-10-25
  bollywood is seldom subtle: it is in this flick. first and foremost, this flick is B E A U T I F U L! the two leads, aishwarya and abhishek are two of the more beautiful actors on the planet (they are a couple in real life: what beautiful children they shall have); they both shine in this flick. this is not a feel-good flick: it has all the pain and bad consequences which infect real life, but seldom show up on the silver screen. if you have to have a "HAPPY ENDING" to enjoy a flick, by all means, pass this one by, but if you want a beautifully acted, filmed, produced STORY with a real ending, get this -- you'll never regret it.
  
  

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