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.
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.