'Umrao Jaan' hits silver screen; 'courts' controversy

Lucknow, Nov 3 (UNI) J P Dutta's magnum opus 'Umrao Jaan', depicting the story of a famous Awadh courtesan by the same name, released amid a public debate whether the central character in Mirza Mohd Hadi Ruswa's fiction existed in real life.

A section of Lucknowites, mainly Muslims, had already initiated the debate, but the general public, primarily the youth, today flocked to see Aishwarya Rai in the title role.

The film released to full houses in multiplexes and stand alone theatres to a lot of anxiety among movie-goers.

The lead pair of Aishwarya-Abhishek Bachchan have evoked much interest among movie-buffs, largely owing to reports of the duo tying the knot any time soon.

As the release date of 'Umaro Jaan' drew near, the residents of the walled city had begun flocking a grave in old city area of Lucknow, claiming it was there that Amreen, a girl from Faizabad, who was re-named Umrao Jan-e Ada (Umrao Jaan) was buried after she was sold off to a 'kotha'.

Asmat Jahan, 85-year-old resident of the locality claims to have heard from his father and grandfather about Umrao Jaan and for generations people have known this to be her grave.

J P Dutta's 'Umrao Jaan', the second screen adaptation on the mystified character, was shot in Lucknow and other places of Awadh.

Another controversy, which surrounded the movie was the statement of the film's producer-director J P Dutta, who had said he had to shoot the film in Jaipur as the historical monuments of Awadh were poorly kept.

The enthusiasm for the flick can also be attributed to varied comparisons being made between J P Dutta's 'Umrao Jaan' and the 1981 classic made by Lucknow's own Muzaffar Ali, in which Rekha immortalised the role of the Awadh courtsean.

The renewed interest in 'Umrao Jaan' is on her real life although there has been no agreement among historians on any evidence available to suggest that Umrao Jaan had lived at all.

Last week, descendants of royal family in Jaunpur had spotted a grave in which the name of Umrao Jaan was inscribed. They claimed it could be the grave of the central character of two films on Ruswa's book, which was first published in 1904.

Yogesh Praveen, a noted scholar on Lucknow and the Awadh region, believes Umrao Jaan lived in real and Ruswa presented a coloured history of her in his novel.

Umrao Jaan had left Lucknow for Bahraich district in 1858, after Lucknow fell to British. She returned to Lucknow at an old age.

The controversy on the existence of Umaro Jaan notwithstanding, the box office has Aishwarya-Abhishek fans lining up to watch their idols ignite the silver screen.

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