‘Umrao Jaan’ sequel being planned?

The hit movie ‘Umrao Jaan’ (1981) could have a sequel in the coming months if reports today are to be believed.

Muzaffar Ali who directed the original movie starring Rekha was based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1905), written by Mirza Hadi Ruswa.

Ali and one of the writers of the film Javed Siddiqui are contemplating making a sequel.

Siddiqui said, “We have two story ideas that we are working on. One apparently has nothing to do with `Umrao Jaan` but the film is set in the same period…It is about aftermath of first freedom struggle. The other idea is to have a sequel to `Umrao Jaan`.”

“As in the end we have shown that she (Rekha) comes to her kotha and we haven`t shown what is going to happen to her in the English regime, how she behaves and what happens to her. So we have a story in which we have Umrao Jaan as an older and more mature person… So this can be shown. But we don`t know if this would happen or not,” he said.

“If we show Rekha in a cameo after almost 30 years, the beauty and spell that she had created is going to be marred. So I don`t think and even I won`t advice that Rekha should be in any kind of cameo in the film. Nobody would like to have an old and hassled `Umrao Jaan`,” Siddiqui said.

In 2006, filmmaker J P Dutta had come out with the remake of `Umrao Jaan` with Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan in the lead roles. However, the film had failed miserably at the box office.