Director Muzzafar Ali talks about his Umrao Jaan heroine and his upcoming film
Rekha
Director Muzzafar Ali is coming back after a long gap with Jaanisaar. Talking about making a comeback, the Padma Shri awardee says, “I live my films before making them. Also, I was busy with a music festival and with social work at my state Kotwara. “One has to live a script while writing it. And that is what I do,” he says.
Talking about his yesteryear film Umrao Jaan, he says, “I was told a few years back that a film with the same title was made. I felt a bit bad initially and I did not watch it… The media wanted me to compare the two films. However, it is the public which decides the fate of a film and I was not surprised when I realised that people had become protective about my Umrao Jaan. If the content is good then a film obviously does well.”
Talking about Rekha, his heroine in Umrao Jaan, Muzzafar says, “Rekha had a natural beauty. She was also very particular about her diction and dialogues. She would imitate every word like a parrot. And her eyes speak more than anything else. Her delicate handling of the character is remembered even today… Whenever an artist mixes her inspiration with expressions, the character becomes alive, and Rekha was one actor who would get into the skin of the character in totality.
“Rekha looked beautiful even without make-up, unlike the heroines of today who lose their originality because of makeovers and make-up.” “The songs of Umrao Jaan, like In Ankhon Ki Masti, could easily be identified because of her expressive eyes.”
Talking about another of his heroines, Smita Patil, Muzzafar says, “Though her time in this world was cut short, her individuality and her characterisation have kept her alive till this day... It is because of Smita, and her penchant for social work, that I decided to enhance the educational sphere for children of my village.”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
Next Story
