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The Umrao Jaan that most cinema-goers know of is someone who was breathtakingly beautiful, someone who sang songs like In aankhon ki masti ke and danced on Dil cheez kya hai. The image of Umrao Jaan is the character played by Rekha in the 1981 Bollywood film directed by Muzaffar Ali. However, Hindi play Umrao, which, just like the film, is based on Urdu novel Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa, presents the protagonist in a way that shares no similarity with the films made on the famous courtesan and poet so far. “The play includes song and dance but they are not presented by Umrao because she never sang or danced in real life. She was a courtesan, who wrote poetry. We have taken some genuine efforts to stick to the novel,” says Hidayat Sami, director of the play, which was staged on October 18.
Produced by Mumbai-based Aarambh Productions, the play’s adaptation has been done by Purva Naresh. “Most plays I have done so far are in English. Since a very long time, I’ve been wanting to do a play that is deep-rooted in Indian culture. Although I had seen the film Umrao Jaan a couple of times, it is only in 2010 when I watched the play Umrao, in which Uttara Baokar played the lead role, that I decided to do this play as a director,” says Sami.
The play Umrao opened in November 2013 at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai, and has been staged in Bhopal and Lucknow. It is being showcased for the first time in Pune.
Though a period drama set in 1850s, the story of Umrao is very much relevant for today’s audience, says Sami. “Purva (Naresh) has given a modern twist to the story, which makes it very relevant. The protagonist talks about freedom of women in the society and how they should be free to wear what they want and behave the way they like. She also speaks about financial independence for woman,” says the director adding that even the dialogues spoken in the play are not in pure Urdu, but Hindustani. “It’s a combination of Urdu and Hindi,” says Mumbai-based Sami, whose earlier works as director are All About Women, Peter Pan and Classic Milds. As an actor, Sami has worked in plays like The Caine Mutiny Court Martial by Naseeruddin Shah, Cyclewala by Sunil Shanbag, Magic Pill by Satyadev Dubey, The Boy Who Stopped Smiling by Ramu Ramanathan and Mahatma v/s Gandhi by Feroz Khan, among others.
Umrao is being staged to help and support women cancer patients. The lead role is being played by actor Neetu Chandra, who is also the brand ambassador of the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) for seven years now. The proceeds will go towards funding and assistance in the treatment of cancer-affected women. In addition to Chandra, the cast of the play includes Gopal Datt, Shubhrajyoti Barat, Rajoshi Vidyarthi, Shabnam Vadhera, Aman Uppal and Monica Gupta, to name a few.
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