Just saw Umrao Jaan!!...I'm really glad 2 be able 2 open this topic!...
The hall was half packed which was quite surprising considering the fact that it was a Wednesday night!
I must say that I never watched the original UMRAO JAAN, with Rekha. So, I won't be able to compare both films. This should have been an advantage because then, I would surely like this one!....
Expectation wise: I really liked Refugee but LOC was a headache!...Still, for me, JP Dutta is a talented director, and so I somehow expected a good product! Not to forget Ash, my once favourite actress!!...Also Junior B!!!...
After Devdas & Don, here is another classic which has been remade!...Expectations are indeed sky high as UJ is considered to be a CLASSIC!..
So does Umrao Jaan deliver? Does it meet the expectations?
The answer is a BIG NO!
You heard it right!...Umrao Jaan fails miserably! It could have been MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better!...And the one to be blamed is Mr J.P Dutta! ....He agains delivers another headache! I so wanna beat him! Really! More of that later!
Story: This is basically the same as the original one! Great story!!
Direction: POOR POOR POOR! What a waste! Why Mr JP Dutta, WHY??....The direction sucked! It was TERRIBLE! Man, the movie DRAGGEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD like HELL! Yes, he did handle some scenes brilliantly but then, its the whole movie that counts!
Music: The less said the better.....! It was a COMPLETE letdown! Baring one or two songs, the REST are simply FORGETTABLE!.....Already the pace of the movie is slow, the songs dont help!...In fact, they make you wanna sleep and i think they succeeded!...There were some people who were sleeping in the hall EVEN BEFORE INTERVAL!...
First Half: The movie started off very well and I really was liking it! But after some time, say 30-40 mins, I was like come on! come on! come on! the pace was SO slowwwww....it was moving at a sluggish pace :tearhair: It dragged dragged dragged & DRAGGED! Believe me, you dont wanna know!...but the most surprising thing was that the first half lasted for 2 HOURS! :eek: MAN! I was sure that there wasnt gonna be an interval but when i saw 'INTERVAL' i was like 'NO, PLZZZZZ' :cry: It was unbearable!! Also theere were toooooo mannny songsssssssssssssssssssssssss
Second Half: Thankfully, the movie picked up! There were some BRILLANTLY executed scenes!! It did drag a bit but nothing compared to the first half! The last song was COMPLETE BACKWAS and not necessary! :nono: I mean, she was invited in a wedding 2 perform her mujra, which normally should have been a
happy song, and there she starts singing the slowww and sad soonggg of her life!...
There were MANY WHAT THE HELL moments in the movie when I wantedt to pull my hair but then, there were also some nice scenes:
-the small Ameeran and her family!
-When Ash unveils herself 2 Abhishek, she looked WOW!
-the confrontation between Abhishek & Shabana
-when ASH returns back home
-Ash and her mother and brother
-and many other!!
Costumes: Simply WOW!!...they were GORGEOUS man!!!!
Jewelry: WOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!! :love: they couldnt have been nicer!!!
Performances:
Ashwarya as Umrao Jaan: It was delightful to see her back ONSCREEN after SUCh a long time! I really missed her!! First of all, lemme start saying that SHE WAS GORGEOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! She looked like a DIVA all through the movie!! Performance wise, she was GREAT!!!! although she did look a bit artificial in the first half , she was MORE THAN GREAT in the 2ND HALF!! She was FABULOUS in the emotional scenes and conveyed so MUCH pain through her eyes!...I felt so sorry for her when she was crying! My mum, who watched the original said that she was as GOOD as REKHA!...Now, thats a COMPLIMENT!!...I hope that this performance of ASH silences all her critics!...It definitely ranges am ong her BEST performances TILL date!...Maybe HER 2ND BEST PERFORMANCE after DEVDAS and before HDDCS!!...Thsi also rages among the best performances of the year!!....4 me, she is on my list of BEST ACTRESS this year!!...WAY TO GO ASH!!
Abhishek: Good performance!...My Mum and her friend thought he was GREAT!!....though IMO, he was a miscast! I would rather have taken some1 more mature!...Still, he did a commendable job!!, esp during his last scene with ASH!!....he was GREAT theer!!!!
Shabana Azmi: Awesome performance!...Her expressions were just too good!!!
Sunil Shetty: Ok, whats WRONG with him?....???? :pissed: What was the need to apply such a THICK layer of kajjal? He looked RIDICULOUS And DISGUSTING!....performance wise, he was oK!
Divya and the others: GREAT!!!
Btw, did the french Manicure already exist in the 19th century? :hmm: :lol: :hmm: ....Just look at Ash's nails when she's praying!!
The urdu is DIFFICULT to understand but thankfully there were subtitles!!!...Some words were really funny like 'Tamansha' (gun)
All in all, for me Umrao Jaan is a BIG LETDOWN! :thumbsdown: I expected MUCH more!....the main culprits are:
-THE SLUGGISH PACE
-POOR MUSIC
-TOO LENGTHY
Box office wise, i'm not sure whether the janta is gonna welcome this one with open arms...It may gather a good to decent opening but it'll definitely crash afterwards due to the 3 factors mentionned above!
Given its terrible promotion, its bad music and DON n JEM still going strong, UJ will have a tough battle!...anywayz, u guys may like it!