UMRAO JAAN

On Saturday 4 November 2006, my sister, a friend and I went to see the Bollywood movie 'Umrao Jaan'. First of all I have to say that I am a huge fan of Bollywood and Rai is one of my favourite Bollywood actress so I was really looking forward to seeing this movie.

We arrived in a rush because we were a few minutes late and I have watching a film that has already started but since these films are 3hours long I knew I'll have time to catch up. As I settled down I got lost in the colour and cinematic brilliance that was 'Umrao'.

The film was a re-make of an 80's movie that was a hit in India. The screenplay is based on a book that recounts this popular Indian fable. It has Aishwarya Rai acting as Umrao and her real life boyfriend Abhishek Bachchan (son of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan) as the love interest, Nawab Sultan.

As I write this I can recall the heavy heart I had while watching this movie. A lot of films have dealt with loss, loss of family, friends and love and 'Umroa' had all of these and more. Rai played the character so well that a glance at her sorrowful eyes had you weeping as a baby. I'm not an emotional person when it comes to movies but this movie had me wiping off a tear or two.

'Umroa Jaan' is really a masterpiece of cinema.