Though I haven't watched the entire film, but I got to see one of the scenes which shows how poor is the imagination of J.P. Dutta. In an emotional scene when the protagonist comes back to her home and saw old things of childhood, she saw hand pump among other things and pumped it. But the scene's emotion were spoiled as hand pump shown was government hand pump introduced quite later. Had it been the old ones as there are in Indian villages, scene would probably have been worth feel. Give this same scene to any other sensitive director like Yash Chopra or Ashutosh Gowarikar, see the difference how they capture the emotion when a person returns home after many many years and after facing many sad events. This scene was enough to pull me off the film.

Hi there..I echoed a very positive review for this film when I watched it and completely because I had not seen the Rekha starer Umrao Jaan.I felt the songs were nice too, if not exceptional. and Aishwarya looked breath taking angelic. She performed really good, especially in scenes like the one where she tells Sunil Shetty that she will only be a dame for him (after the song 'main na mil skun jo tum se') and towards the end when she tells Puru Rajkumar that she has forgiven him and the scenes that follow and many more.Yes the film was pretty slow paced and to be honest, I did yawned once or twice.But now the main question arises that "Did it live up to the 1981 Classic made by Muzzaffar Ali?". This is very wrong though but very obvious and unavoidable also.So to know that I ordered the previous film from my Neighbourhood DVD Library.And my whole opinion changed.The 1981 film by Muzaffar Ali with Rekha in the title role is humongous in every department and J.P.Dutta's version now appears to me as an arrogant film-making by a director.I remember Dutta saying in interviews that his a true adaptation of the book Umrao Jaan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa and it is adapted by his father. If that is the case, then I believe Muzaffar Ali is a fantastic story-writer and screenplay-writer.The story of the new film is a merely 50% of the old film. The Rekha starer has more to it and that too in less screen time. There are layers and layers of drama which indulges the viewer into the story of the protagonist, making you cry for the doomed fate of her in every span of her lifetime.The story being the biggest strength give ample area for other departments to excel too. The music is timeless, lyrics very simple and extremely effective, the old word charm (the film was short in the real by lanes of Lucknow) and the performances are superlative.Rekha excelled the beautiful story by adding her talent and grace to it.I guess the power of old Umrao Jaan lies in the true fact that Muzzafar Ali was a witness to the culture and Dutta was not.I never once felt the old film slow and dragging (considering I watched it without any break) and I yawned may times in the new film which was presented to me with inter-mission.Nothing is therefore of a match between the two films. Even Aishwarya's performance gets reduced to pail due to the failure of the new film at the scripting level.I personally aspire to be a film director one day and this whole experience taught me a lesson in responsible film-making and arrogant film-making.To rate the film is now very difficult. It certainly does not comes half closer to the Old Classic and so a less than 5 is deserving. It hence gets a 3 out of 10, 95% of it because of Aishwarya's portrayal.I know that many people must have worked very hard on this film, but am sorry to all of them. I Do!

This movie is a giant step backward from the 80s Umrao Jaan. Granted dancing is good as should be expected of Aishwarya Rai but her character comes off as flat, weak and unlikable. The brothel is an idealized fantasy place where she can remain loyal to her true love all the while crying her eyes out because life's so unfair. I thought the movie was extremely dull and boring and I suspect Mrs Rai was crying to some extent because she got trapped in this awful movie by JP Dutta.Spoiler: Worst scene: the rape and aftermath. Only: there is no aftermath as the lady is in a really forgiving mood. Everyone does make mistakes I guess (like watching this movie!). The whole love story also doesn't work for me. While in the original Rekha came across as this intelligent woman, Aishwarya Rai is just a pretty face and of course her Nawab falls in love with her at first sight. She is just another pretty face...

Muzaffar Ali made the classic "Umrao Jaan" in 1981 starring Rekha, Farooq Sheikh, Naseeruddin Shah, and Raj Babbar. Compared to that, this one is entirely unwatchable.The screenplay is terrible and barely maintains the viewer's interest for the first hour. Only towards the end is there any noticeable flow to the story. Casting is fine, but Sunil Shetty does not fit the bill of Faiz Ali.The language of Lucknow is Urdu, and, unlike what some other commentators claim, the movie does not employ a correct version of the language. The dialect used by some characters is also incorrect. Dialogues are horrible, and Aishwarya's pronunciation of Urdu words is absolutely revolting. Umrao Jaan was an Urdu poetess, and Aishwarya does not do her justice. The playback singers, however, are excellent, especially Alka Yagnik.Being a native of Lucknow, I know that we do not use "Baisa", "Mausa", "Apshagun", "Maan maryada" etc, especially among Muslim families, to which all the movie's characters belong. Yet, JP Dutta pays no attention to these important details, and the characters continue to use these and other wrong terms.The characters' wardrobe is not comparable to period Lucknow or to Muzaffar Ali's version of the movie, despite Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla's involvement.JP Dutta's Umrao Jaan is a low budget pretender of a movie, with Aishwarya's looks being the only redeeming factor.Stay away from this film. Watch Muzaffar Ali's original version, if you can. That was a pleasure to watch.2/10.