The real wealth of people is their culture and literary work. Which reflects the times, the place and the people. One such work was Mirza Hadi Ruswa's Umrao Jaan Ada. Ruswa was a teacher in mathematics, science, philosophy & Persian. Ruswa was born in 1857 in Licknow and his parents died when he was 16 years old. 'Ruswa ` .. Read more
| Starring | Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Suniel Shetty |
|---|---|
| Director | J P Dutta |
| Genres | Indian Cinema |
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The real wealth of people is their culture and literary work. Which reflects the times, the place and the people. One such work was Mirza Hadi Ruswa's Umrao Jaan Ada. Ruswa was a teacher in mathematics, science, philosophy & Persian. Ruswa was born in 1857 in Licknow and his parents died when he was 16 years old. 'Ruswa ` means a person without reputation. After going through the book, many literary minds felt that Ruswa could have named it 'Kahani Avadh Ki` or ' Sham-e-Avadh' , because it is a vivid depiction of life in Avadh. But then, 'Sham-e-Avadh' or 'An Evening in Avadh' means 'mehfils' of song and dance and gatherings of poets and the literati - a veritable celebration of life And any such evening would be inconceivable without the presence of Umrao Jaan Ada. A courtesan and a poetess in her own right, Umrao Jaan was a name to be reckoned with in any description of life in Avadh. If Lucknow was the heart of Avadh. Umrao was the heart beat.
| Starring | Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi |
|---|---|
| Director | J P Dutta |
| Studio | ADLABS |
| Run time | DVD: 3 hrs 8 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Indian Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Hindi |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 22 Jan 2007 Production year: 2006 |
| Format | DVD |
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A good film, but not as good as the original. If you loved the original you may be a bit disappointed, but this film follows the novel more closely, as opposed to the film from the 1980's. Aishwarya Rai acts well, but comparisons with Rekha will be inevitable. Rekha's performance was definitely superior, but Aishwarya's portrayal was not far behind. Abhishek Bachchan was good, but looked out of place at times. Shabana Azmi was excellent as the ruthless brothel madame who is forced to hide her motherly instincts and act as a brothel owner should. The rest of the supporting cast were good. Music wise, 'Salaam' was exceptional and 'bitiyaan' was an emotional tearjerker sung brilliantly by Richa Sharma, which came intermittently throughout the film. The rest of the songs were OK but not great. Choreography was first rate. Aishwarya looked the part and danced elegantly.
Why is the Bollywood film industry making remakes of timeless classics. The new version was nowhere near the acting standards of the original film. Don't waste time watching this movie. Only die hard Ash and Abishek fans will like this movie.