I didn't enjoy the film only because the main cast lack acting talent. People cannot compare this to Rekha's umrao Jaan. The first version cannot be outdone. Rekha's dancing, the music, the storyline and the acting were all superb. You felt so sorry for Umrao jaan in the original version.Fast forward to the 21st century and all that has changed is the outfits, the actors and the scenery. Aishwarya doesn't have much going for her in the dancing or acting departments. She had her looks but even then she seemed quite forced and in some shots quite creepy. Her dancing is always done too fast as if trying to prove a point. The music was absolutely beautiful however. The pain of Umrao jaan was caught perfectly and there was so much emotion in the voice of Alka. Abishek does not suit the role of hero either. Shabana azmi played the role of a plotting older woman who picks and chooses which dancer will entertain "suitors". All in all I will say that this film was a disaster. Why remake a film when the original has nothing wrong with it? Most who see the original fall in love, feel the pain of Umrao, understand history and gaining an understanding to how easy it was for women of a good home to be snatched away.I recommend the original. This should not have been made however I am thankful for the voice of Alka.

Though movie is set to the period of late 19th century but there are many goofs. 1) Handpump shown in the movie is of India Mark II (http://www.skipumps.com/deepwell.htm) which came into existence around 1980.2) Tiled swimming pool and hose pipe were also not available during that time.3) Costume of Nawab is of pathani touch no where near to Lucknowi.4) During mutiny time almost everyone was fleeing from Lucknow to Faizabad or any other city, but movie shows only Aishwarya and her friends going in cart.

i loved this film it was great, Sunil Shetty looked so hot with eyeliner on, and Abishek Bachan was just so cool on the horse, Aishwarya Rai was looking gorgeous then ever, and just the whole acting crew was great! I cried it seemed so real. Shabana Azmi was so great and gave the whole film that extra spark. The scenery, the music, the dance everything was perfect, people were actually clapping at the end of the movie.A great movie with everything you need, romantic, comedy, action, thrilling and with a lot of suspense! Definitely a movie to watch. I would rate this movie the movie of the year!

I happened to watch original Umrao Jann just a few days back by chance and instantly fell for classic movies. As soon as this remake was released i went especially to theater to watch and i didn't regret as it was equally good. Story was not completely a copy of original one ,instead some more good ideas were added. I think it wont be fair to both REKHA and ASH to compare them with each other as both performed equally well and were a perfect choice for the character as it demanded some thing beyond than just the verbal performance. Songs are really touchy esp SALAAM and JIS ZINDAGE NAY AP SE MILWA DIYA HAMAIN. Though the duration of the movie is too long for the typical Indian movie (which is the only not-so-good aspect to some extent) but if considered it was inevitable for such a story. Its not that Abhishak didn't perform well, he did an OK job, its just that he doesn't have the typical NAWAB FEATURES, or may b we are looking forward to his upcoming DHOOM 2 featuring him as the cool cop, so perhaps having that image in mind i just couldn't digest him playing a NAWAB in this movie. Rest the sets were good and the costumes too, though the dialogs if written with more depth would have added more to it. Anyway overall everybody did a good job. And one last thing,even if the movie didn't do well on box office, Ash should get best actress award this year. What do u say??