Umrao Jaan (1981)
Director: Muzaffar Ali; Writer: Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa, Shama Zaidi, Javed Siddiqui, Muzaffar Ali; Producer: Muzaffar Ali; Cinematographer: Pravin Bhatt; Editor: B. Prasad; Cast: Farooq Shaikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Raj Babbar, Prema Narayan, Shaukat Kaifi, Dina Pathak, Leela Mishra, Gajanan Jagirdar, Rekha Ganesan
Duration: 02:24:38; Aspect Ratio: 1.357:1; Hue: 17.518; Saturation: 0.093; Lightness: 0.326; Volume: 0.213; Cuts per Minute: 13.965; Words per Minute: 35.639
Summary: Based on the first major Urdu novel and possibly (there is controversy about this) the autobiography of a legendary mid-19th C. tawaif (a courtesan who was also an accomplished and respected musician and dancer) from Lucknow. Abducted as a child and sold in Lucknow, Umrao Jaan (Rekha) is trained in music and dance. She grows up to become immensely popular with the elite of the city, falls in love with an aristocrat nawab (Shaikh), then finds companionship with her childhood friend Gauhar Mirza (Shah), finally escaping her claustrophobic life with the bandit Faiz Ali (Babbar). Aijaz Ahmad (1992) notes about the novel that: ‘The scandal of Ruswa’s text is its proposition that since such a woman depends upon no one man, and because many depend on her, she is the only relatively free woman in our society. Ruswa was a very traditional man, and he was simply tired of certain kinds of moral posturing’. Ahmad sees the continuation of this motif of the free woman in the work of the PWA in the 30s. Muzaffar Ali recreated the image of the Urdu costume spectacular around the star Rekha while Bansi Chandragupta’s sets and Khayyam’s music endow the film with a sense of opulence enhancing the star’s performance (as well as overshadowing her limitations as a dancer). Includes many popular ghazals sung by Asha Bhosle e.g. Dil cheez kya hai and In ankhon ki masti.
Singer: Jagjit Kaur
Song: Kaahe ko byaahe bides
Arre lakhiyan baabul mohe
काहे को ब्याहे बिदेस, अरे लखियन बाबुल मोहे
Singer: Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan
Song: Jhoola kinne daala
Singer: Runa Prasad
Singer: Shahida
Singer: Ustad Ghulam Mustafa
Song: Pratham dhar dhyaan dinesh
प्रथम धर ध्यान दिनेश
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Song: Dil cheez kya hai
दिल चीज़ क्या है, आप मेरी जान लीजिये
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Song: In aankhon ki masti ke mastaane hazaaron hain
इन आँखों की मस्ती के मस्ताने हज़ारों हैं
Singer: Talat Aziz
Song: Zindagi jab bhi teri bazm mein laati hai hame
ज़िंदगी जब भी तेरी बज़्म में लाती है हमें
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Song: Jab bhi milti hai mujhe ajnabi lagti kyon hai
जब भी मिलती है मुझे अजनबी लगती क्यूँ है
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Song: Justajoo jiski thi uss ko toh na paayaa hamne
जुस्तजू जिसकी थी उस को तो न पाया हमने
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Song: Yeh kyaa jagah hai doston, yeh kaunsa dayaar hai
ये क्या जगह है दोस्तों, ये कौन सा दयार है
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