The only reason I watched the film was to redeem aishwarya and abhishek and maybe the film from the 1980’s umrao jaan fans. I hadnt seen the old umrao jaan and was willing to give the cast and director the chance to prove themselves with this period epic. Since I had nothing to compare it to (i didnt even know the original story of umrao jaan), i expected to like it.
Oh my God! was I ever wrong. Right from the get go, the movie is dull, boring and lacklustre. The casting is wrong, the dialogues are bad and words mispronounced, the demeanour is cheap and gross and above all the direction is botched. I was suprised a director of JP Dutta’s calibre could make such a bad movie. The music is boring and choreography lacks emotion (but I think thats the actors fault).
Bear in mind, what I have said till now is based on the fact that I knew nothing of the original umrao jaan or the novel. Now listen to what I have to say aftre I read up on the story and watched the classic.
First of all, that is such a classy film.. the dialogues and songs are to die for. The dances...wow...
This umrao jaan does not pale incomparison because there can be no comparison of the classic to this cheap knock-off. the story has been murdered, the acting is pathetic and unconvincing. it was such a let-down! aishwarya looked beautiful but you soon forget it fazed by her cold cold acting. Abhishek didnot look like a nawab nor acted like one. Enough said about this film.... I cannot bear to write more as I am feeling nauseous just thinking about the film