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The 1981 classic, starring Rekha, has been restored and will be re-released in cinemas on June 27.
Among the beneficiaries of the recent trend of older films being re-released in cinemas is Umrao Jaan. Muzaffar Ali’s celebrated period drama from 1981, starring Rekha in one of her most well-regarded roles, is not available on any streaming platforms. This makes its re-emergence special, the director told Scroll.
Umrao Jaan’s rights are held by the son of the original producer of the film, Ali said. “Had he sold the film to a streaming channel, it would have lost its mystery,” the director added. “There is still a craving for the film since people want to see it in its better form.”
The movie, which has been restored by the National Film Archive of India, will be out in PVR and Inox theatres on June 27. Audiences can expect Rekha’s amazing grace, sumptuous visuals, gorgeous costumes and jewellery, Khayyam’s music, Asha Bhosle’s singing, Shahryar’s lyrics.
Most of all, they will see “a convergence of nostalgia and a dream for the future”, as Ali wrote in his memoir Zikr – In The Light of Shadow and Time (Penguin Random House, 2023).
Ali adapted Umrao Jaan from Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s historical fiction Umrao Jaan Adaa, about the courtesan Amiran. The movie, like the novel, is set in the nineteenth century. It traces Amiran’s arrival in a brothel in Lucknow and her relationships with characters played by Farooque Shaikh, Raj Babbar and Naseeruddin Shah.
Amiran’s experiences run parallel to the decline of Lucknow as the cultural hub of the former kingdom of Awadh. Umrao Jaan is classified as one of the most important courtesans films made in India, but it’s actually a “lost Lucknow film”, Ali said.
“It’s a film about relooking at Awadh with a sense of truth,” the 80-year-old filmmaker and designer observed. “A lot of films of this kind are placeless. You can’t smell the place. In Umrao Jaan, the fragrance of Lucknow is very strong. My film is deeply rooted in the geography of a place where I belonged.”
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