In Ankhon ki Masti: Why watching Umrao Jaan is restorative in more ways than one

Economic Times

12-07-2025

A trope of Hindi cinema I cherished as a child - the action-oriented, male-centred films - was the one where a weepy-faced boy would dramatically morph into the adult star 15 minutes in. Sometimes it happened during a chase scene: the child actor's legs would turn into sturdier, jeans-clad ones, a boy would jump off a bridge and land on a train as the dashing hero. Or a match cut, or camera swish might render Master Mayur into Amitabh Bachchan, and whistles and yells of approvals could begin.
I was amusingly reminded of those scenes while watching the splendid restoration of Muzaffar Ali's 1981 Umrao Jaan on a big screen recently. Mid-dance, the young girl Ameeran - sold into a Lucknow brothel and renamed Umrao - turns into the adult version of the character, played by Rekha. To my mind, this scene was as star-heralding in its own way as the ones mentioned above.
But Umrao Jaan is, of course, a different sort of film from my childhood favourites, and I found myself rapt by this languid, introspective, woman-centric narrative - in a way that I wasn't as a youngster. There was so much to absorb and savour. Songs most obviously, costumes and sets, interactions between assertive women and effeminate or suppliant men. Or details such as the tribute-casting of the veteran Bharat Bhushan in a small part. Much has already been said about female solidarity (commingled with female conflict) in Umrao Jaan - about the balancing of scales not just between the sexes but also among women, about their interrelationships in precarious situations, where vulnerability goes hand-in-hand with the exercising of dignity and power.Dim childhood memories had fixed this as a story about Lucknowi tehzeeb - soulful poetry and music taking precedence, even in a setting where women's bodies are traded, a world where even a wild-eyed bandit might be respectful towards the heroine. But the actual film is more dynamic and varied than that. It gets much of its impact from the profane moments that joltingly remind us where we are. The unexpected use of the word 'randi' in an exchange. Or the veteran Dina Pathak spitting out the line, 'Aise haram-zaade marte hain kabhi?'
For me, Umrao Jaan is also inseparable from my shifting view of Rekha, who was not one of my favourites as a child. I saw her as one of Bachchan's less interesting heroines - not as sophisticated as Parveen Babi, not as sweet as Jaya Bhaduri, or as unconventional as Raakhee. My interest in her tawaif roles was limited to Muqaddar ka Sikander. But over time, this yielded to an affection for the maternal aspect of the Rekha persona, as well as the image - supplied in 80s-90s film magazines - of the woman living in solitude, childless, partner-less, her closest companion a beloved dog. One's view of the bereft Umrao can be deepened by what one knows (or thinks one knows) of Rekha's real life - including her being cut off from a secure family life early on (much as Umrao is) despite being a superstar's daughter.There is also something about watching an old, familiar film alongside someone with whom you have a complex history. My viewing companion and I have long been in a strained relationship, imbued with sadness and separation - and yet when it came to little observations or childhood memory triggers around the film, we leant in and whispered to each other, as unselfconsciously as in the good old days. Compare Rekha and Naseer with their roles in Ijaazat later in the decade. Look at how 'seedha' Farooque Shaikh is here, and how 'tedha' Naseer is, in contrast to their roles in Katha. How much Shabana Azmi now resembles her mother Shaukat Kaifi (who plays the kotha madam here). For a few hours, a shared experience of a film, and the memories associated with it, had transported us back to a time and space when things were gentler. Maybe that's why they call it a restoration. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. India's gas dream runs on old pipes. Can a European fix unclog the future?
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