Umrao Jaan

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Article Updated 20 October, 2006 12:25:20 AM IST

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Umrao Jaan

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Umrao Jaan
Credits
Producer/s:	J. P. Dutta
Director:	J. P. Dutta
Cast:	Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Suniel Shetty, Puru Rajkumar, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ayesha Jhulka, Bikram Saluja
Music:	Anu Malik
Lyrics:	Javed Akhtar

It's 19th Century Lucknow. A young girl named Amiran has been kidnapped and sold into the flesh trade by escaped convict Dilawar Khan, who was put into prison with the help of her father nine years prior. Given the circumstances, one could picture little Amiran's life in a kotha (Nawabi Haveli) to be a living nightmare. Yet for Amiran it became a life that she never would have imagined, coming from a lower caste and being the daughter of a sweeper.

Khanum (the high priestess of the kotha), who was given the title of the "world's perfect courtesan", christened Amiran as Umrao Jaan. There was no one else who could compare to Khanum (Shabana Azmi). Although at times her commanding words were sharp and stinging, they could also be found alluring and persuasive when they needed to be, in order for her to get what she wanted. Her insatiable hunger for money, kept her coffers overflowing and Umrao Jann with her to make sure they remained that way.

Under her tutelage, Umrao Jaan (Aishwarya Rai) not only became a refined, famous courtesan, who sang and danced for the elite Nawabs, but she also became a literary genius with her poetry, which has often times been compared with that of the famous Sahir Ludhianvi. All her attributes, along with her magnetic personality, made Umrao Jaan the pride of Lucknow. Even though, with all this fame, she still kept searching for true happiness at the end of the rainbow.

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