Interestingly, both Abhishek and Aishwarya have recently avoided facing the media or their fans together. 😉
where is my komall😭😭😭
 Rediff |
Was Umrao Jaan for real? Rediff - 5 hours ago Many people may like to believe that Umraojaan existed for real, but to this date there is a controversy on whether such a courtesan existed in the 19th century, as depicted in Umra-O-Jaan-E-Ada, a novel written in 1904 by Mirza Mohammed Hadi Ruswa. 'Farzi Umrao from deserts' has no takers Times of India Does Umrao Jaan lie here? CNN-IBN IndiaFM - CNN-IBN all 5 news articles |
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Yes sure...But only if u tell me that u'll check the club regularly😛!!!Coz sum members cum here n ask me to jst add their names n after that they dun cum back...So tell me u r not going to do this..hehe😆Originally posted by: ~sowmya~hey komal iam also a crazy fan of ash cant u add me into the list yaar plz
hellooooooo komal sis and alll!
*********hugsss**********
how r u all!😛
| "I lose track of time, sleep and food when I'm working" - Aishwarya Rai | |||
| By Subhash K. Jha, November 3, 2006 - 06:53 IST | |||
| Umrao Jaan takes you back to the elegant kotha culture. It takes an Aishwarya Rai's elegance to recreate that culture. That's quite a compliment. I just want to thank my directors for providing me opportunities in such rare genres. It doesn't oft-come in these times. So I feel good about it. All creative people are hungry for such experiences, eager to come away enriched from doing films like Devdas, Raincoat, Umrao Jaan, Dhoom 2 and Guru. I guess I'm blessed.
Yes Umrao Jaan is his first costume drama. But I've done another beautiful costume drama earlier Devdas. If I may say so, I'm equipped to go back to that era of elegant dancing and old-world culture because I'm a girl very rooted to Indian culture. I mean, the sari is my most favourite apparel in the world. I'm teased that I belong to some other era. But at the end of the day I am a contemporary woman of the world. It's cinematic experiences such as Devdas, Umrao Jaan and Guru that give me the privilege of going back to another era. Please explain. You know we communicate mostly in English. The Hindi we speak is hybridized . Being a South Indian, people like me and Rekhaji have worked very hard at brushing up our Hindi. But Urdu which is such a beautiful language, is totally alien to me and to most of us in Umrao Jaan, including J.P. Dutta. We were all tremendously aided by JP Saab's father O.P Dutta saab. To have a director like J.P Dutta who's perceived as a task master, was a blessing. He's known to be a tyrant on the sets. You think Sanjay Bhansali is any less of a tyrant on the sets? Any director who's passionate about his work will be perceived as a tyrant. Whatever the decibel at which a committed director instructs his actors, he wants his point made across. It's the teacher-pupil relationship. There're different kinds of teachers in school. I've worked with all kinds of directors from Sanjay to JP Saab to Adi Chopra to Subhash Ghai. They're all known to be passionate in their own way . Why, even Karan Johar whom I haven't worked with, is known to fly off the handle on the sets. And don't forget Mani Rathnam. My God! He's my first director (in Iruvar). And now I've worked with him again in Guru. Of course he's known to lose his cool. But there's a story about how J.P.Dutta cut your costume in a fit of rage. Now let's not make a mountain out of a molehill. I don't get rattled by the passionate declarations and discussions on the sets. Nothing that a conversation cannot solve. There might have been a day when JP got rattled. If he did he was very sweet about it afterwards . When you know it's nothing personal , the director's outburst is totally understandable. I'm not egoistic about these things. The entire teamon Umrao Jaan or Dhoom 2 and Guru are committed to their work. And I'm as passionate about my work as the director. You've known me very closely. You've seen how I lose track of time when I get involved with a film. Sleep, food all forgotten. We needed to not just work on our Urdu but also the body language of the time. Sometimes I'd want to go subtle while JP wanted it louder. He wanted the drama of the times to shine through . Sometimes the 'Hai Allah' needed more punctuation than I gave.
That's the way I am in real life. You won't find me screaming in real life or on screen. Of course I've gone through a spectrum of emotions with Sanjay Bhansali. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas had high points of drama. That's where you mould your talents to every genre. What about the fun aspect of such passionate team work? Oh yes! I must tell you about this particular hour that Abhishek had set aside during shooting when all of us would just crack up. Nothing could stop it. Even JP was in fits of laughter. In fact he'd look at the watch and say, 'It's going to happen now, right? Nothing can stop it from happening.' And then OP Saab would say, 'Children are at it again. What do I do?' The children would of course include JP. And then we'd settle down to work again. Did you enjoy doing the Mujra in Umrao Jaan? You know, to know to dance is one thing. But to get the finer nuances of a Mujra, down to its smothered energy and expressions of restrained poignancy, is very very difficult. Vaibhavi Merchant and I got together after Kajra re. She knows Kathak. She brought the classical element into the dances. Along with her choreography there was a huge contribution by JP Saab. After three rehearsals he'd suddenly bring in changes and I'd be like, 'Okaaay.' The Mujras in Umrao Jaan required myriad expressions in one sweep. JP had a three-camera set up. He operated one of them. So I had to give different expressions into different cameras. By far this was the most challenging film for its dancing.
He was the veteran of the unit, having worked with JP twice before. Shabanaji, me we were all the babies. Abhishek thinks Umrao is your best performance. That's very generous of him. Me? I can't assess myself. There're films and roles that I've thoroughly enjoyed. And you know which ones they are. Because it shows in my work. Umrao Jaan is one of them. | |||
movie review!
By Taran Adarsh, November 3, 2006 - 16:07 IST
J.P. Dutta is one of the finest storytellers around. Right from his directorial debut GHULAMI to his last release L.O.C., J.P. has had the courage to narrate stories that excite him first and foremost. Some films worked, some didn't. But J.P. continued with his practice of choosing subjects that not many dream merchants would dare to dream.
Quite obviously, UMRAO JAAN, his latest outing, evokes tremendous anxiety. Sadly, it's bound to meet with diverse reactions/feedback…
UMRAO JAAN has sensitive performances, it is visually rich with the bygone era captured beautifully on celluloid and the stamp of a master storyteller is visible in crucial scenes. But there's a flip side too. It's not a enriching, satisfying and fulfilling experience, it's toooooo long [20 reels; 3 hour + duration], has too many songs and lacks the power to keep you hooked in entirety.
Write your own movie review of Umrao Jaan and win exciting prizes
In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to state that the lethargic pacing coupled with the unnecessary length make UMRAO JAAN a bejaan experience!
A courtesan and a poetess in her own right, Umrao Jaan [Aishwarya Rai] was a name to reckon with 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 [Parikshit Sahni] 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 [Vishwajeet Pradhan]. 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 [Shabana Azmi]. 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 [Himani Shivpuri] brought her up in style, Maulvi Sahib [Kulbhushan Kharbanda] 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 [Divya Dutta], Khurshid [Ayesha Julka] and Gauhar Mirza [Puru Raaj Kumar], Umrao developed varied skills including poetry. The pen name 'Ada' was ample proof of the proficiency in writing and presenting poetry that she went on to acquire.
Graduating in years, Umrao became 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 [Abhishek Bachchan]. With the whole of Avadh at her feet, Umrao craved for Sultan's company. Somewhere deep inside her, 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.
But there were hiccups in the form of a dacoit Faiz [Suniel Shetty], who was smitten by Umrao. Subsequently, the misunderstanding with Nawab Sultan takes place. Later, the war of independence makes her homeless. And much later, her mother [Maya Alagh] and brother disown her. Amiran is forced to become Umrao Jaan again.
UMRAO JAAN takes off on a positive note. The story of the little Amiran, who is kidnapped and sold to a kotha in Lucknow, is sensitively depicted. The entire track -- sequences with her parents and also with Khanum [Shabana] and Bua [Himani] -- unravel beautifully. Then Sultan walks in Umrao's life. Love is in the air. You begin to ponder: UMRAO JAAN is akin to a poem on celluloid.
Romance takes over and the story comes to a grinding and screeching halt. Two/three songs flow in one after the other. You start getting restless and impatient. Agreed, J.P. had to be faithful to Ruswa's literary work. But the songs are completely unwanted and only add to the extra length. The sad part is, Anu Malik's music, although in sync with the film, comes across as an unwanted guest in the narrative.
The turning point comes in the form of the Sultan's father, who disowns him. An interesting twist in the tale. The dacoit walks in, he wants Umrao at any cost. He even convinces her to come along and spend a month with him. She agrees. Interesting. Sultan gets to know the half-truth. He's upset. He shuns her. She returns back to Khanum. Okay.
The war of independence breaks out. Umrao reaches Faizabad. Her home-town. She comes face to face with her mother and brother. She weeps, they're not convinced. Sadly, the emotions don't touch the heart here. You don't feel sorry for Umrao. She gives her last performance in Faizabad. One more song. Ideally, the movie should've ended with Umrao walking out of her house and her brother slamming the gates on her face.
If J.P. deserves meritorious points for drawing sensitive performances and also taking you to 19th century Lucknow, you want to deduct many points for the slow and tiresome narrative and also unwanted scenes and songs. As an editor, J.P. fails to keep you hooked. The film can easily do without three/four songs and also a few scenes. Ideally, a 25/30-minute trimming is a must!
Anu Malik's music is a minus point here, partly because people want to listen to the story and the songs here add to the boredom. O.P. Dutta's dialogues are exemplary. Dutta Sr. is a supremely gifted writer and his work in UMRAO JAAN stands out in every sequence. Costumes [Anna Singh and Bindiya Dutta] are rich. Cinematography [A. Bose] is flawless. The sets [Bijon Das Gupta] are topnotch. Choreography [Vaibhavi Merchant] is commendable.
Aishwarya Rai looks ethereal. In fact, it's after HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM that Ash has looked heavenly and performed so convincingly. She emotes through her expressive eyes and the consistency in her performance is evident from start to end. This can easily rank amongst her prized assignment in her repertoire.
Abhishek Bachchan is up to the mark, although one strongly feels that he's capable of so much more. Shabana Azmi is superb, especially in the sequence when she insults Abhishek [minutes before the intermission]. Suniel Shetty doesn't get much scope. Nevertheless, he's alright. Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Himani Shivpuri lend good support. Divya Dutta and Ayesha Julka leave a mark in brief roles. Parikshit Sahni, Maya Alagh, Vishwajeet Pradhan and Javed Khan are passable.
On the whole, UMRAO JAAN has a weak first half and a tolerable second. But the damage done by the first half [unwanted songs and scenes] creates a major dent, which the second half tries to repair, but cannot. At the box-office, the film will appeal to a miniscule segment of moviegoers [gentry] in a handful of multiplexes, but the wide majority would give it thumbs down due to its unnecessary length [20 reels; 3 + hours' duration] and lackluster treatment. Given its low hype and poor start at the ticket window, the film will incur losses for its investors.
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