She commands the film from the beginning till the end, holding the centre stage just like Umrao Jaan in the novel as the male characters enter and exit the scene, much like their visitations to the kotha.
The casting of Rekha as Umrao Jaan adds to the spectacle of the film in a way that not only fits the imagination of a courtesan as given in historical and artistic representations, but as befits the character of Umrao Jaan for the readers of Mirza Hadi Ruswa. When we look at Rekha (picture below) in Umrao Jaan, we can easily say that there is not a single detail that has been missed by the director to recreate how a courtesan might have looked like, including the mole on her face.Ī still from Umrao Jaan, starring Rekha, directed by Muzaffar Ali She rubbed the interior edges of her eyelids with surma (Antimony) and darkened her eyelashes and brows with kajal (lampblack). Among the most appreciated marks of beauty were the natural dimple on the cheek and the black mole on the face. She stained her lips a deep red, and used powdered saffron to add a golden hue to her skin. As for makeup, the courtesan painted their fingertips and palm of the hand, toes and soles of the feet with mehendi (henna). The bodice, which was of buried textural decor, was made to fit the bust and trussed at the back using silken cords. The dupattas (stoles) were transparent and as soft as the gossamer web of a spider the most graceful part of the costume. One could see nothing but her face, hands and feet. Historical scholarship on the courtesans of Awadh notes that the tawa’if’s costume was often embossed with heavy gold-work embroidery, and she covered herself from head to toe with a wide variety of jewels and ornaments made of gold, diamonds and pearls.
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The tawa’if’s costume in its full richness and girth, tightly fitting certain parts of her body and flowing in other places, emphasizes her body and her dance movements her makeup draws focus to the visible parts of her body. It can be said that all attempts are made to draw attention to both the body and the performance, infusing sensual pleasure to a performance that overwhelms each audience member. Rather, the union of her body and her performance creates a double spectacle. For the performing tawa’if, her body does not disappear or even aim to disappear behind the performance. The audience - within and outside the film - is captivated by the courtesan’s beauty, her performance, as well as the mehfil in which she performs.
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The two gradually merge to a point where the audience of the film doesn’t find it peculiar when the actor’s voice suddenly changes to that of the playback singer’s. Ali’s alternate use of fast track, medium shots, and closer screen shots emphasize the cultural context and captures the mise-en-scene of the traditional mujra - the dancer, the musicians and her audience.Īli’s camera, which often focuses on Rekha’s expressions, as afforded to a classical dancer’s facial expressions, blurs the boundary between the actor and the audience of the film. Ali’s Umrao Jaan performs her first grand mujra in a shimmering red and gold kathak dance costume on a heavily carpeted floor, framed by the sarangi player on her right and the tabla player on the left. When his protagonist, after years of training and anticipation eventually performs in a mehfil, it is a mesmerizing affair not unlike the entry described by Anderson. Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan (1981), starring Rekha in the lead, is inarguably an aesthetic masterpiece for the way in which it depicts the grandeur of nineteenth century Awadh, especially the city of Lucknow. From an entry by American journalist Lily S.
The Indian nautch girl …is a mistress of art in motion… there is undoubtedly something hypnotic about it all. Her muscular control and coordination were admirable as she worked herself up to the climax of her dance and then drooped gracefully to the floor. The whole hand took up the rhythm, which gradually extended to the arms and onto the body until her entire form was one with the music. Her dance began at the finger-tips each digit moving with deliberate meaning. The pulsating drums set the rhythm of the music, the plaintiff flute began the elusive strain, and the Sitar carried the melody in soft tones…Whirling and swaying Jasmina wove her spell on twinkling feet, her arms and hands fluent with the eloquence of her theme.
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