Umrao Jaan – Film Review
(Hi! I am sorry to post yet another review on Umrao Jaan. It was way big to fit in the comment section. Moreover, my review didn’t get published anywhere!(sighs) :-( )
An Arabian mosaic, a female voice doing an ‘aalaap’, an Urdu script and ambience filling the screen, the scene is ready for remaking Umrao Jaan! Cheers!
Enters an old dreamy realistic uncle (Bole to he can’t act cus he is not supposed to) who seems to have just woken up from a 60 year hibernation and the first thing he notices is the mellifluous voice coming from the spires of darkness in the middle of a sleepless night (no, this is not meant to be a screenplay!). Wearily and unexcitingly, he asks, “ye awaaz, ye purkashish mousiqui….and goes on further(ending all his lines with Nawaazish Nawaazish) till you enter your first nap comfortably(the man will remove all sleeping pills from the world one day, trust me!).
What follows is anybody’s guess.
The bio-pic of an unknown singer who entered the scriptures of history because…..
We are subjected the privilege of how Ameeran becomes Umrao Jaan Ada, a quick roundup of her dance trainers, music teachers, doodhwaala, papaerwaala, sabzi-waala and the likes, her friends(read deprived of their 15 seconds of fame stars turned junior artists), her abba(if you think of anyone else then Kulbhushan ‘constipated speech is my USP’ Kharbanda, then I will change my name to JP Dutta, wow that rhymes!), ammi(ditto for Himani ‘aaaye haaye what other role do I get to play anyways’ Shivpuri), and the ‘period drama’ quintessentials read people in bad costumes and makeup pretending to be from the last century.
You would never have waited so desperately for the interval in any Hindi film till date, it seems light years away!
So you thought I go to movies for the fun of writing a review?
Shabana Azmi rises above the pitiable goings-on to pitch in a well-textured performance. One does not get a Mandi, but she makes up for the bad taste in your mouth on being subjected to yet another unapologetic remake with all the clichés in the book (including the comments at the back).
Aishwarya Rai is surprisingly good, in fact top class in some of the scenes. She exudes a rare mix of accepted-pathos and anticipated hope for the memorable lead role. Check out her scenes with Kharbanda or Shabana Azmi and you will not regret seeing the film.
Abhishek is third best, but looks half involved and half interested, may be it was what the character demanded. Again, I am not JP Dutta. He manages the get the only applause in the entire 3.5 hrs film. He gives a new dimension to the character of Nawab with his body language, suppressed pre-Raj chauvinism, contained diction and delivery of Urdu lines, the now-evolved gaze and underplay.
Suniel Shetty provides the much needed laughs (though not meant to!), well attired in a ‘Pirate of the Arabian’ do, and well accompanied by a kahaani mein twist character.
The music is a refresher and one of the few reasons why you could stay till the much awaited titles roll. But you might want to listen to the score (one of the finest works of Anu Malik) a couple of times to appreciate their placing and lyrical finesse. However, some pieces, like Agle Janam mein, main na mil sakoongi, could be brilliantly done, in sense of technique and direction.
Salaam, Dekha hamein kuchh aise, poochh rahe hain, jhoote ilzaam are well shot, placed and choreographed beautifully.Especially Aishwarys carries them with an elan and range of emotions.
All things said and done, it is NOT a bad film, but not a classic either. I would give it a 6.5 on 10.
JP Dutta is better from Refugee and subsequent films, he has an eye for continuity and making the whole film look good in spite of all the million flaws, he treats music well, and generally has a ‘levelling’ technique which elevates the film from being a nobody to somebody; it’s only sad that it doesn’t become an everybody.
Moreover, if you are used to seeing the period-portrayals involving Urdu poetry like Mirza Ghalib, Sardari Beghum, the old classics like Pakeezah and Umrao Jaan, and the likes, you might appreciate the flow of the film despite the length. Because it is not easier to present such a theme in the mainstream flavor. JP Dutta belongs to this in-between category of film-makers who have an eye on both the schools-arthouse and mainstream (at a loss of better nomenclature). But a sparkling aspect of his films, especially this one, is his controlled self-confidence to make something from the heart. He gives the film the requisite, right amount of dignity, and also makes a decent though unsuccessful attempt at social commentary. His Umrao Jaan is expressive of her emotional transitions and laughs and cries at a failed love. A lot is left desired but….
Here and here are some better reviews of the film.
Tags: Direction, Teaching Film-making
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Good analysis Tushar. Your experience was different than mine and am actually happy for it since the distributor in the West Coast is a friend of mine and am hoping for him that the film does reasonable business. Actually he works for the distributor, so does not get to pick the films. Will forward your review to him and I’m sure he and the ADLABS US team will appreciate it. Have to admit I did not have the heart to send him my review. But your analysis is very thorough and can be highlighted by the folks.
Thanks Vivek.
That makes me grin from Amritsar to L.A.!
Even I wish the film succeeds, because we are seeing yet another case of a not-so-bad film(c’mon Fanaa n Hera pheri -II were HITS?!)suffering at the hands of critics who seem devouring films every friday like underfed lions.
Ah i’m hearing bad things about this film but that’s probably what I expected. I knew this wasn’t a movie that I could enjoy or appreciate hence my decision not to go and watch this.
“If you think a film will suck, It WILL!!”
I was reading JP’s reviews in Today’s TOI. He said few experts in Urdu were hired. Then there was a 70 year old tawaif who was hired to teach Ash some ‘Adas’. It looks like JP did put in some extra efforts.
As I said earlier Acting n Script are the primary things. Evrything else is secondary. Above mentioned things r indeed secondary. The primary things are indeed difficult for JP’s team to pull out correctly.
yunnoh, critics and historians are also panning the costumes and detailing. they sa the saafa that’nawab’ abhishek is sporting is actually worn by labourers while nawabs wear topis.
I thoroughly enjoyed umrao jaan. Aishwarya really pulled off the role of umrao and lets not forget,period dramas aren’t for everyone. I actually missed the first 15 minutes and my first impression was the style of the film, it wasn’t glitzy or glam like a devdas but it drew me in. yes, it is slow paced but not boring, I felt it was all relevant and quite honestly any bollywood film I watch seems too long.
Has anyone seen marie antoinette? not very good at all. But its not ripped apart the way film critics in india do. I don’t think umrao jaan was made to tick all the boxes and have some huge commercial success. its a good film and if you like quality indian cinema then go watch it.
I agree with you, Amza. The lack of artificial gloss is a welcome break.I particularly liked this factor a lot in Mangal Pandey- The Rising, but sadly not many people liked the film. I still remember the Tumhari Adaaon Pe song for its approach. The film received rave reviews in the west, and many critics placed it alongside Braveheart for its genre of one man rising against all odds, made in the ‘period’ ouvre.
May be I will write about the film separately, but your comments reminded me of it.
May be both in that and this film, people did not get what they wanted and thats why they are touted as failures. Personally, I feel Umrao Jaan is heavily flawed but it has its strengths- it manages to have a flow despite the length, and does have decent if not award worthy performances, an underrated score(that might get its due some years down the line), and an honest and independent approach considering its a remake.
Trust me, you didnt miss much, its rather good that you didnt see the first 15 mins.
hmm..Marie Antoinette was not ripped apart? I take it you didnt read Anthony Lane’s review..
Coppola films Versailles with a flat acceptance, quickening at times into eager montage, and declares, in her notes on the film, that she sought to capture her heroine’s “inner experience.” Her what? This is like a manicurist claiming to capture the inner experience of your pinkie. The one, transfixing virtue of “Marie Antoinette” is its unembarrassed devotion to the superficial. There is no morality at play here, no agony other than boredom, and, until the last half hour, not a shred of political sense.
Have not seen film and have heard music only.
song ” Agle janam moge bitiya na—” reminds me that lovely song of Amar Prem ” bada natkhat hai ” is going to be played. tune is having same raaga ?(with deep understanding of raagas can say more abt this) or its just remake of Amar Prem’s song by Anu Malik as JP Himself is remaking UJ.
In older UJ there was a beautiful song with same theme.” kahe ko byahae bidesh ” which evoked the true emotions behind the pathos of UJ.But song by Anu Malik carries towards Amar Prem’s song with some touches of Badee lambi judai from Hero.
RK
I agree that it is pointless to compare this film’s music with the classic. I have too less a knowledge of ragaas to say anything about the work being inspired by the songs you mentioned.
However, it so happened that I had another discussion over the film’s music and its comparisons with the old one.
Here is what I had to say on that:
Often the anti-incumbency wave eats up good pieces of art. By saying this, I am in no possible way saying that the film is great or even close to it. I just feel it needs an independent reaction; it at least deserves that if nothing else.
Do check out the music of the new film independent of thinking about it being from the new film that is a remake of an old classic, and you just might appreciate the finer nuances of the poetry.
The poetry is so overbearing that it might have made me enjoy an otherwise not so great film.
Javed Akhtar does mesmerizing work here, which will be praised in times to come. I can say that on record.
We often associate a film’s music with the imagery and association on screen. That does both good and bad-on one hand, it enhances the dimensions of the songs and on the other hand, it affects our independent response to the songs and original work of art. I am saying this from the experience of a project I did on The Song in the Hindi Film called Whose Song is it anyway/Are You Song For It?, and still working on it. In this project, we basically analyzed our favorite film songs in all possible ways and looked at creating theatrical pieces out of the exercise.
I have some excerpts of the brilliant poetry of the songs of the film in discussion:
(The true success of Akhtar’s poetry in this film is to avoid the use of complex urdu to create an everyman’s poetry. And sometimes, things said in a simple way carry much more depth than otherwise.)
aisi widaai bolo dekhi kahi hai
maiyaa naa baabul bhaiyaa kono nahi hai
aasu ke gehane hai aur dukh ki hai doli
band kiwariyaa more ghar ki ye boli
manjar tammam rang mein dube hue se hai – 2
tumane ye kis makaam pe pohanchaa diyaa hamein
ek toote huye dil ki aawaaj mujhe kahi
sur jismein hai sab gum ke woh saaj mujhe kahiye
main kon hoon aur kyaa hoon kisake liye jindaa hoon
main khud bhi nahi samajhi woh raaj mujhe kahiye
yaa to taawir bataayo mere sab khwaabo ki – 2
yaa koi khwaab in aankhon ko dikhaayaa naa karo
tum kisi aur ki kismat mein ho tum mere nahi – 2
ye agar sach bhi hai to mujhako bataayaa naa karo
Jhoote Ilzaam Meri Jaan Lagaya Na Karo….Dil Hai Nazuk Ise Tum Aise Dukhaya Na Karo…
Refernces:
http://www.dishant.com/album/Umrao-Jaan-(2006).html
http://www.bollywhat.com/lyrics/umra_lyr.html
Tushar:
I meant that if one has listened two songs so many times( bada natkhat hai- amar prem and lambi judai – hero) then its very very difficult to focus on this song – agle janam mujhe bitiye na keejo- from new UJ, as tuning automatically leads toward older songs. Its not in control of listner. Thats the limitation with new song. Have not seen the film but the version Anu’s daughter has sung is plain without sadness attached with the song. This song has to carry sadness of the character to the listner.
I am not sure but there should be a folk song
“Agle janam mohe aurat ka na deejo” and from that folk song should be the basis of this song of UJ.
I may be alone in this impression but most of the lyrics of this film reminds me again Anand Bakshi of Amar Prem. Incidently Javed Akhtar himself liked very much song “kuch to log kahenge” from same film. I am not deeply at present in to the lyrics of the new UJ but none of the song appealed me as a new song with new lyrics. It may be because of too much effect of other music composer on Anu and lyric writer on Javed. Duo can tell better. When I hear Gulzar, kajrare or chaiyan or any other song then they bring originality of Gulzar and I never felt with Gulzar that his song is inspired by other though at times his song may be inspired by his own older song.
For example- Jhothe iljam meri jaan lagaya na karo- mind says that it has been recited before with little bit different words but at present I cant get you original song.
Above this when I read Javed Akhtar saying that when Anu came to him with his compositions, he said these w’d not do as he was going to write gazals.
I am sorry to compare but Sharyaar of original UJ seems miles ahead from Javed Akhtar of new UJ.Same is true with difference between Khaiyam and Anu Malik and Asha Bhonsle and new singers. I pray that atleast JP decreases this difference and does not leave behind too far from Mujaffar AlI: It was just second film of MA after Gaman and JP has made atleast 10 films.
and then we read Anu Malik saying that when Javed Akhtar listened his compositions of his lyrics then he kissed my cheeks though JA seldom expresses his emotions. Is this music so outstanding? or its another marketing gimmics?
Guess, Anu is a great ‘Fakaydya’ ( a person who boast too much in mumbai slang:) ).
Akhtar as a lyricist is over hyped. His songs do not have flow and sound more like a script, which he is a master. But you can not deny the commercial success. Gulzar is good. If you want to listen excellent lyrics try Sahir Ludihanvi. Sahir was the first writer to demand royalty in writing. Theres so much depth in his writings.
Just got a funny SMS!
Nayi aur purani Umrao Jaan mein kya farak hai?
Purani baap ki maal thi nayi bete ki maal hai:d
This is a very good quality film. Aishwairya is excellent and very talented as usual. I recommend this film to anybody and well deserve the best film award for 2006.