THE RESTORED ADAA OF UMRAO JAAN

More than 40 years after Muzaffar Ali's memorable film on Awadh and a Lucknow tawaif lit up the silver screen, Umrao Jaan, immortalised by Rekha, is returning to cinema houses this weekend after its restoration. A conversation with director Muzaffar Ali on its sensuous journey.

- PARAMITA GHOSH

IN films on courtesans, the first things you see are big bosoms and money. In Muzaffar Ali's film Umrao Jaan (1981), based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa's 1899 novel Umrao Jaan Adaa on a 19th-century tawaif and poet of Lucknow, the emphasis is on things intangible—the heart of a woman; the speech of sighs, silences and glances; and Umrao's determined study of the art and etiquette of poetry to make something of herself when she is doomed to a courtesan life.

Set to make a comeback to the silver screen after 44 years on June 27, TMS catches up with Muzaffar Ali to talk film history, his choice of Bollywood's then reigning star Rekha as its heroine, National Award controversies, and the teamwork that made it transcend its time, or, being more than a Lucknow film or a movie on a tawaif.

A commemorative, limited-edition coffee-table book featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and production materials celebrating the film is also being published, timed with the film's release and restoration. The restoration was supervised by Ali himself working from a 35mm release print preserved at the National Film Archive of India.

Excerpts from a conversation with the director:

The big films of 1981 were Kaalia, Laawaris, and Katilon Ke Kaatil... In that year, you made Umrao Jaan, a quiet, tender film full of poetry, art, and the heart of a woman. Why did you think it would work?

I knew things around me were much bigger, louder, faster and heavier. But this was something that was coming from inside of me. It was my Lucknow, my sense of music, my understanding of people and characters—all coming out. So, I was on another trip.

You had worked with Smita Patil in Gaman just before you made Umrao Jaan. Was it Rekha's screen test that made you decide on her?