Free Download Hindi Movie Umrao Jaan 2006 Film
Lala Klingerman
I have been an admirer of the actor for decades now, but try as I may, I miserably failed to review her biography written by Yasser Usman. Even though this non-cinematographic representation of a legendary thespian of our times generated a rush of emotions, and I merely remained loyal to them.
She was a courtesan in a kotha in Awadh, where in the mid 19th century, the culture of nautch girls had reached the pinnacle of cultural refinement in poetry, dance, music. This led to some of them rising beyond being mere entertaining escorts to being formidable, intellectual paramours of the rich, sophisticated, culturally inclined Nawabs.
At the heart of the story is a young girl Amiran, yet a minor, who is kidnapped along with another of her ilk Ram Dai. Amiran, due to her dark, nothing to rave about features is sold to a brothel; whereas the fairer, conventionally beautiful Ram Dai is adopted by the Begum to live with her in her own palace.
But a man of strong intellect is not always one of a strong character. And so she realises, as a weak Nawab fails to offer her a deserving societal acceptance. Accentuating this tragedy, unawares, he marries the conventionally respected Ram Dai brought up as the adopted daughter of the Begum.
Desperate to escape the vicious cycle of her fate, Umrao Jaan seeks solace in different men, only to find herself dejected, unacknowledged, and confined in her kotha; the only place that finally acknowledges her for what she is, with her music, poetry and loneliness.
Cut to 1981. The veteran director Muzaffar Ali makes up his mind to adopt Umrao Jaan for the screen; his Umrao Jaan is to be played by the thespian Rekha. Perhaps his choice was instinctive, but it is she, who would go on to eternalise Umrao on screen like no other. Any attempt in consequent years to emulate the genius of the part she lived would fall flat. Like when none other than the stunning, gorgeous Aishwariya Rai comes face to face with this dawning reality when she made an attempt to reinvent Umrao Jaan once again in 2006. Even her famous, ethereal beauty fails to come to her rescue from the dismal fate of the reinvented Umrao Jaan.
As her superstar father flourished and reached the pinnacle of stardom in the South, Pushpavalli struggled with Bhanurekha, her sister and her other half siblings (all born out of wedlock) to make ends meet.
As her father lined up awards, Bhanurekha Ganesan lined up the doors of producers for meagre roles to keep her family going. At a very tender age, Bhanurekha learnt that to survive as a woman in this dark, lethal world is dangerous. It is shamelessly easy to abuse and take advantage of a minor who no one feared, respected or cared for. All the more reason that she bore the cross of her famous title and her illegitimacy.
In the same year of her arrival, there was another south Indian beauty who was launched: Hema Malini. Hema Malini was far well placed in society, knew Hindi better, was a trained dancer, and was easily accepted as well as respected by the film industry. On the other hand Rekha was ridiculed. She was made fun of, mocked at, body shamed serially by various industry people.
This is precisely how Rekha began her career in Bollywood. But there was no looking back for her and no luxury of choice. If she was a product of nepotism, then this was her biggest curse. Back home, she had mouths to be fed, debts to be cleared and had only one choice, the choice to plod on for survival. She began with B grade films, signing them in heaps. Her aim had nothing to do with acting and everything to do with money.
It was the veteran Gulzar who had spotted a special spark in her in the underrated film Do Anjaane, and shocked everyone by casting her in such a serious role. Though she had slowly fought her way into being a glamorous prop for the male leads by then, no one had ever considered Rekha as any kind of an actor.
Bhanurekha Ganesan, the unacknowledged daughter of her star father, saw to it that she was now a star herself. She had finally managed to silence her critics once and for all. The once dark, gauche, oddly dressed girl with a strange accent was now a gorgeous, fashionista Diva, a star, dancer, and actor with an enviable Hindi diction and an outstanding voice modulation (the last two, I personally believe, none of the other non Hindi speaking actresses including her more welcomed contemporary Hema Malini, could accomplish anywhere near her.)
Farooque Sheikh has been quoted as saying that on the sets of Umrao Jaan, she left the unit spellbound with her Urdu dialogue delivery. All others -Naseer, he himself, even Raj Babbar (all of them having had a prior familiarity with Urdu), she was the only non Urdu speaking actor around the set. Yet her dialogue delivery in the film remains exemplary till date.
Though her professional career took her to dizzying heights, it was in her personal life where Bhanurekha was time and again reminded of the inevitability of this inescapable fate. She was never formally accepted by her father, and despite several link-ups and rumours of secret marriages, she was never formally accepted by any man as his legal wife. The only legal association she dared to attempt (businessman Mukesh Agarwal) met with dangerous consequences within months.
Though there is no evidence of Umrao Jaan being a real historical character of the 19th century, Mirza Hadi Ruswa had once confessed that the protagonists of all his novels were real, living human beings, whom he had himself met and known at some point of time.
The author was no more alive in the 20th century to witness Umrao coming back to life onscreen. In case he would have had, his earnest take on this immortalized version of his Umrao today would forever remain a figment of our eternal imagination.
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Umrao Jaan is a 1981 film by Muzaffar Ali and is based on the life of a courtesan, named Umrao Jaan, whose character is played by Rekha in the film. The film is an adaptation of an Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa, published in 1899.
She is sold at the brothel for one hundred and fifty rupees, and the women discuss whether the deal is expensive or cheap. Umrao Jaan falls in love with Sultan Sahab, who compares her body parts with objects, like her lips with rose petals and her neck with surahi (an Indian clay pot for storing water), among others.
Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) provides a framework for understanding the experience of being female in a sociocultural context that sexually objectifies the female body. The theory helps one know the oppression women face under patriarchy. The treatment of Umrao Jaan as an object to be valued for use by men comes across in the film. She is presented as a physical object to cater to male sexual desire.
Amiran looks happy while getting decorated for her engagement but whether she understands the institution of marriage is a pertinent question. When her father goes to work, she asks him to bring a doll for her. This refers to her childlike innocence when she is pushed into a marriage that demands commitment and taking up responsibilities.
The difference between kotha and kothi is stark. Kotha is a place where the sexual involvement of men and women takes place without any formal commitment. In contrast, kothi involves family life and the sexual involvement of men and women under marriage. Thus, the acceptance of a woman from kotha in kothi is impossible, as with Umrao Jaan.
Changing names also refer to the courtesans, prostitutes and sex workers leaving their identities and past lives behind after entering their professions. This is not true for other occupations. The profession of courtesans, prostitutes, and sex workers not being given equal treatment and respect is another issue that the film tries to raise.
The difference between kotha and kothi is stark. Kotha is a place where the sexual involvement of men and women takes place without any formal commitment. In contrast, kothi involves family life and the sexual involvement of men and women under marriage. Thus, the acceptance of a woman from kotha in kothi is impossible, as with Umrao Jaan. The kotha provides a respectable identity, while the kothis deems one as a bazaru aurat or a woman who belongs to the streets and can be used for sexual pleasure for anybody.
Other than this, women being caged is another idea that comes up in the climax of the film. Umrao Jaan, in the film Umrao jaan and Laila, in the novel Sunlight on a Broken Column, return to the places that were oppressive to them at a point in time. Their fidelity to the place can also be viewed in terms of these women realising the oppressive nature of the institution of family, marriage and other social norms.
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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.
Says writer Javed Siddiqui, who wrote Muzaffar Ali's 1981 Umrao Jaan, "There have always been two opinions. I believe she never existed in this world. If she existed where is her grave? No one knows till this date. The book of Ruswa became so famous and an Urdu literature classic that everyone thought that Umrao Jaan is a real character, but it is not true."
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