Aishwarya Rai: New Movie

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These are from the new movie 'Umrao Jaan'. It is based on the tragic life of a dancer by that name.

The movie is a remake of very famous movie of the same name released in 1981.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083248/



You know, these days here in India there is a trend of re-making old movies....like soon the remake of the superhit movie 'Don' which starred Amitabh Bachchan is going to be released. Shah Rukh Khan plays Don in this new movie.

Mag, nice to see you here again. I am happy you are back!

And whats tragic about the dancer's fate? She dies at the end? i love dancing so wil try to watch this movie and not to cry ...

Umrao Jaan is said to be a renowned 19th century female artist who achieved the pinnacle of glamour and fame, and yet remained deserted by her loved one's.

Her real name was Ameeran. On the very day she was getting engaged, she and her childhood friend Ramdei were kidnapped (both teenagers) from their home in the town of Faizabad as a revenge for family rivalry. They are brought to the city (Lucknow) and Ramdei is sold to a wealthy family as a maid (as she had a fairer complexion than Ameeran) and Ameeran is sold to an old and kind courtesan, Khanum. Here Ameeran is rechristened Umrao and introduced to the world of classical dance and music. She grows up surrounded in rich poetry, music, costume design, playing board games and while all her hopes of reuniting with her own family die a slow death, she gradually begins to identify with this new world and contributes her own talent to it.

She turns out to be a successful courtesan, writing her own poems and achieves instant fame. One of her admirers was one Nawab Sultan, who attracts her as well, and very soon the two fall in love. They stimulate each other intellectually and have a common interest for poetry. Nawab is from a rich and aristocratic family and though his love for Umrao is real he cannot honour it by the sanctity of marriage because after all she is a courtesan. Their idyllic time comes to an abrupt end, when Nawab's mother upon getting news of his son's philandering ways, marries him off to her pretty maid.

Umrao feels so depressed that she runs away from Khanum's establishment with a stranger Fiaz Ali, who turns out to be a dacoit and is very soon slain. Umrao sets up her own small establishment at Kanpur and gets invitations for in-house performances at various Nawab households'. One such invitation lands her at her old lover Sultan's palace, and she is shocked to discover that Sultan is in fact married to her childhood friend Ramdei.

Soon an aide from Khanum's establishment, Mirza, discovers her and asks her to return to Khanum's establishment in Lucknow on the pretext that Khanum is on deathbed. Umrao does return, but only to a trap. Khanum is well and thriving and Umrao is brought back only to be imprisoned in her establishment to restore its dwindling glory. She is forced into a forged marriage with Mirza to prevent her from fleeing the place again.

Just then the Sepoy Mutiny breaks out in Meerut and Umrao is able to slip away from Lucknow and lands up in Faizabad, her birthplace. Here too she re-establishes her career of a courtesan, and gets invitations to perform at mehfils (performances for men) in her very own hometown. She eventually comes face to face with her long lost family, but they no longer accept her! Umrao for them has died, the very day she was kidnapped, forgotten in their minds and the very brother who she had brought up in her arms drives her out of her home without even letting her embrace her mother.

Umrao eventually is left with no choice but to return to her life of a courtesan that fate chose for her. She returns to her original establishment in Lucknow.

The story ends here. So you thought only whites are racist? Just the skin-colour can really take a girl places.

I can understand everything but how happened that her OWN family betrayed her....

Being a dancer..performing for men was not a honourable profession in the society...still isnt. Thats why her family didnt accept her back..since she lost her honour. But of course there was no fault of her.

Mag, thanks a LOT......it was all very interesting...

savyonok wrote:

Umrao Jaan is said to be a renowned 19th century female artist who achieved the pinnacle of glamour and fame, and yet remained deserted by her loved one's.

Savyonok, was she a real person?
I know that the movie was based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1905), written by Mirza Mohammed Haadi Ruswa...

savyonok wrote:

The movie is a remake of very famous movie of the same name released in 1981.

Couldn't help it......wanted to post pictures from old movie... ...can bet that Rekha was a great Umrao Jaan...would love to watch this movie...

Owlet wrote:

Savyonok, was she a real person?

Yes she was a real person. Based on her life, the novel was written...and based on the novel the movies were made

From a courtesan behind the veil to a warrior with a sword, Aishwarya Rai will be seen in very contrasting roles in her coming movies.



But first it is going to be Ash's portrayal of a battered wife in 'Provoked':
that will mark her return to the big screen after her last forgettable film 'Mistress Of Spices':




The actress is headed to London to promote the Jagmohan Mundhra-directed film, which will be distributed in UK, US and India.

From a tortured housewife, Ash will slip into the garb of a courtesan in J P Dutta's film 'Umrao Jaan', based on the book by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa. The film will have Ash rendering poetry in chaste Urdu. She will be wearing elegant costumes designed by Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla and Anna Singh. The film tells the story of a young woman's struggle in a Muslim household, her penchant for poetry, her unrequited love, and her disenchantment from life. 'Umrao Jaan' is set to release in mid-October.

After this, we will see Ash take the great leap and step into the shoes of a Byzantine warrior in the Hollywood movie 'The Last Legion', which is set against the backdrop of the fall of Rome in 476 AD. The film will have Ash riding horses, stalking her enemies and fighting with swords.
In the initial parts of her role in the film, Ash will be seen as a black-clad Byzantine warrior, who joins a group of faithfuls to rescue the captive Roman emperor.

savyonok wrote:

Yes she was a real person. Based on her life, the novel was written...and based on the novel the movies were made

Thanks Savyonok, I haven't come across anybody mentioning it...

Oh really Owlet?? ....Ash with a sword ? Thats going to be pretty nice change....but sure some male warrior wil fall in love with her and they sing and dance near the ruins of Rome...
If saying seriously Owlet, you know who else is starring in that movie? Someone known?

smetanka wrote:

...and they sing and dance near the ruins of Rome...

No, Smetanka, they are not gonna sing and dance near the ruins of Rome......it's Hollywood movie, not Bollywood!!!

smetanka wrote:

...you know who else is starring in that movie? Someone known?

Actor Colin Firth plays a legionary named Aurelius:

He discovers that the person behind the black clothing is a young, beautiful woman called Mira (Ash)...

Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley, who plays the emperor's mentor in the film, has already lavished praises on Aishwarya for her acting skills and her beauty.

'The Last Legion' is slated to release on January 19, 2007

Wow i like Colin Firth! Lets see what they going to make out of this movie...I will surely try to watch it.
By the way dont u think they made Ash looking more like Jolie in this movie?...maybe i am wrong...

smetanka wrote:

By the way dont u think they made Ash looking more like Jolie in this movie?...maybe i am wrong...

Yes, I also was thinking about that......let's see how she looks in the movie... ...looks like she is in a good company...

Not very good pictures, but give some idea about the movie...:

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Wow, Smetanka thank you for the welcome!

Savyonok, I really didn't know anything about the story of that movie, that was quite interesting. But tragic indeed.. I guess I'd want to watch both old with Rekha and new with Aishwarya cause seems that they both look great!

Owlet, I wish I could find a movie online but there's a music clip from old Umrao Jaan with Rekha and she's simply gorgeous:

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This is the tragic moment of the movie when Umrao Jaan discovers that her beloved Nawab was actually married to her childhood sister and she was invited to perform for them.

This is a famous ghazal sung by Asha Bhosle...here are the lyrics:

justjoo jis kee thi usko to na paaya humne
is bahane se magar dekh li duniyaan humne

What I desired I couldnt get
But for its sake, I have seen the world

tujh ko ruswa na kiya, khud bhi pasheman na huye
ishq ki rasm ko is tarah se nibhaya hum ne

I didnt dishonour you, nor I did repent
The ritual of love, I performed this way

kab mili thi, kaha bichadi thi, humen yaad nahi
zindagi tujh ko to bas khwaab mein dekhaa humne

When did I get, when I lost, I dont remember
Oh Life, I just saw you in my dreams

aye adaa aur sunaaye bhee to kyaa haal apna
umr kaa lamba safar, tay kiya tanhaa hum ne

What more can my expressions tell about its condition
The long travel of life, I made all alone.

Thanks Mag for posting these news. Now I am curious to watch Ash's latest movies. She had all my respects as Paro in "Devdas" and now I am curious to see her as a curtisane .

At least now we can watch bits of the movie

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And finally there's at least old Umrao Jaan with Rekha, not translated but Savyonok has already told us the story, so if anyone wants to watch, it's a link to part 1, the rest is easy to find:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gHJ9elDNDg

Who wants to watch the new Umrao Jaan but awful video quality and no subtitles then here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHDYMeaBmts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57yBt9lX-d4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJDoBl_jv0w

Maybe with better image and translation it'd be interesting, but like this I found it too boring... or is it really?...

The ad of the Last Legion.. I've got a feeling that I won't like this movie much too....

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