Umrao Jaan

Umrao Jaan (2006) -- *Umrao, My Life

MAIN CAST
Aishwarya Rai -- Umrao Jaan
Shabana Azmi -- Khanum Jaan
Abhishek Bachchan -- Nawab Sultan
Sunil Shetty -- Faiz Ali

BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW:
A remake of the 1981 hit starring Rekha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrao_Jaan

FILM -- 3/5
As a remake of the incredible 1981 film Umrao Jaan, which starred Rekha as the titular courtesan, this film has a lot to live up to and manages to do so in terms of technical mastery: there's some lovely (if repetitive) dancing and stylish, gorgeous costumes. The script is a bit jilted and choppy and points; namely, the dialogue often sounds stiff and unnatural, and it's very annoying when the story keeps returning to the "modern day" Umrao and the poet as the former narrates her story. Fewer flash-forwards would have helped the movie's flow immensely. There are some truly gorgeous scenes, like the first time Umrao and Nawab Sultan are in bed together (when she is deflowered and therefore earns the "Jaan" title), which left me breathless.

CHARACTERS -- 3.5/5
The beautiful Aishwarya Rai has come a long way since Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke, and she plays the melancholy courtesan very well, although her performance is nothing compared to Rekha's in the earlier version of Umrao Jaan. The young actress who plays her as a child, Bansree Mandhani, shines during her brief moments on-screen. Umrao Jaan proves that Abhishek Bachchan CAN act. He looks quite handsome in his noble's garb, and his eyes really connect with the viewer. Like his off-screen wife, he has greatly improved since he starred in the pitiful Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke. Aishwarya and Abhishek finally have chemistry on-screen as well as off--I guess that marriage helped! I'm not huge on Sunil Shetty, but I loved his portrayal of the villanous Faiz Ali and his obsession with Umrao. If there's one thing Sunil can do well, it's play a villain. The real star of the film is Shabana Azmi, who plays the powerful bawd Khanum Jaan so well you can hardly believe the character isn't an actual person. Her mature beauty rivals Aishwarya's youthful good looks, and she brings complexity and honesty to Khanum. The supporting cast is both vast and vastly talented, including Himani Shivpuri has her kind "aunty" and Divya Dutta, Ayesha Jhulka, and Puru Raajkumar has her friends and fellow courtesans.

MUSIC -- 1/5
There's little to be said for Umrao Jaan's soundtrack. Composed entirely of period pieces, it's quite pretty and makes great background music, but no song stands out individually. The whole soundtrack blends like one long track. I'd be hard-pressed to listen to it outside of its film context. The vocals are great, however, so it's certainly worth a playthrough.

OVERALL -- 1.5/5
Umrao Jaan is like a great painting: it's beautiful to look at, but you can only stare it for so long before you want to move on to the next painting to see something new. I fast-forwarded through certain parts of the film, mostly when the characters were monologueing for no good reason or when there was a song without dancing, so be prepared for about half an hour of filler. The second half is alright, but the first half is much better. I would buy UJ if it were on sale for less than $5, and I'd certainly rent it, but it's not the kind of movie I'd pay full price for, since it only has a little replay value. If you get a choice between this updated Umrao Jaan or the original Rekha version, take the original; it's a thousand times better.

TOTAL SCORE -- 9/20 (mediocre)




* While this movie lacks bad language and nudity, I would not recommend it to children because it centers around courtesans in a brothel, which a young child would not understand, and contains a rape scene. Though tame, it is still a rape scene.

** This is a very literal translation. Umrao is the character's courtesan name and Jaan was an honorary title applied to very famous/high-ranking courtesans who had finally lost their virginity.