Kerala   

Lukewarm response

`Umrao Jaan' beat a hasty retreat from Kozhikode. J.P. Dutta's take on Mirza Mohammed Haadi Ruswa's 1905 novel, `Umrao Jaan Ada', ran for just four days.

"We were expecting to screen it at least for a week, but the collections were poor, like elsewhere in the State," says A.R. Vinod, proprietor, Crown Theatre.

The film, which was released last Friday amid great expectations, had a lukewarm opening. The film pales in comparison with Muzzafar Ali's `Umrao Jaan,' released in 1981. Muzzafar Ali's cinematic work was a classic with sterling performances by Rekha and Farooq Sheikh. It had soulful music by Khayyam.

J.P. Dutta's film too has some good songs, set to tune by Anu Malik, who seems to reserve his best for this director (`Border' and `Refugee'). The songs, however, are not quite in the same class as Khayyam's immortal compositions. Alka Yagnik's Salaam... and Richa Sharma's Bitiya... could well be among the finest songs of the year. Aishwarya Rai does look stunning as the 19th century courtesan-poet of Lucknow.

P.K. AJITH KUMAR

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Central railway station in Kerala to have world-class facilities
Remembering a great `vainika'
State Literacy Mission's performance lauded
Lukewarm response
Simian protest
Anti-cola activists to relaunch stir
Novel invitation
Lighting up lives
Waste of energy
Warm welcome
Ready for the rush hour
Macro wash
Briefly
Inconvenience during VVIP visits

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu