Umrao Jaan: the review

Umrao Jaan was a "fish-bowl" experience for me. Being in America, coming to the theater in a Toyota Corolla after having a burrito for dinner, and then watching a 19th century epic where people use palakhis to commute, and women pray to God not to make them women in their next birth....

Umrao Jaan is another adaptation of the novel by that name, that had been earlier adapted in the older Umrao Jaan starring Rekha. The tale is very poignant and sad, and if only the movie could portray that well...

The movie is set in the royalties and brothels of 19th century Lucknow. The Lucknawi air at the time was full of poetry, riches and royale. The movie conveys this quite well, and the director's attention to detail for the most part is commendable. J P Dutta's penchant for looking authentic is evident in the heavy Urdu dialogue that sometimes made me look at the subtitles for help. The main character, Umrao Jaan, is quite meticulously explored to show shades of innocence, sincerity and later the feeling of being ostracized. There are some flashes of directorial brilliance, but I'm afraid they are just that, and they are quite few.
The movie makes both its strengths and weaknesses very obvious. Anu Malik's music is quite pedantic as compared to his previous collaborations with J P Dutta, namely Border and Refugee. Melody is notably absent. The lyrics are much better, but for all tabla lovers, the tabla in all the songs is simply exquisite. I was reminded of the intricate percussion in all legendary Ghulam Ali ghazals. And except the occasional phase shift, the finger movements in the movie actually match what is being played!

The cast leaves a lot to be desired in many cases. Oddly enough, although the sets portray the grandeur of the era, the characters don't. All the nawabs don't really look "nawabi" rich. The only exception is Shabana Azmi who totally looks and acts the part of a money-grabbing pimp. Abhishek Bachchan as Nawab Sultan isn't the best of fits, but he does a good job. His character mainly does two things--stare at Umrao Jaan without saying anything, or saying something. Abhishek looks kinda lost in the staring part, but he has some of the best dialogues in the movie. Even though he has managed to carve a niche for himself and has successfully distanced his style from his father's, an inebriated Abhishek Bachchan seems quite similar to an inebriated Bachchan Sr. Shabana Azmi brings out the dichotomy of her character's greed for money and motherliness quite well.
Then there is the weird star cast--Puru Raj Kumar and Sunil Shetty. Puru Raj Kumar has quite some screen presence in the movie, but he could have done much more justice to his role. Sunil Shetty is a miscast. If only he had to simply appear on screen and not say anything, he would've excelled, 'coz he does look creepy in the movie. But then he opens his mouth and a totally fake Urdu accent takes over. Sunil Shetty should go back to rough, action-packed macho roles. He is very unsuitable for portraying characters that are even remotely suave or intelligent.
And lastly, Aishwarya Rai. All said and done, she has given a very sincere performance. That she will be compared to Rekha is both inevitable and unfortunate. The problem with Aishwarya Rai is that she has to take great efforts to look like her character and not herself. The glamour, jewellery and rich robes that her character wears throughout this movie do not help the cause at all, as she looks quite pretty, and hence, more Aishwarya than Umrao Jaan. But she tries her best and deserves credit for it.

The biggest flaw of the movie is its length and pace. Even though this is a character-based movie, the pace is just too slow. There are umpteen examples of scenes where you feel for Umrao Jaan and get immersed in the proceedings, but the scene goes on and on for so long, that by the time it ends, the moment has passed and you can't wait for the next scene out of sheer boredom. J P Dutta has many strengths, but brevity and editing are not some of them.