A tawaif was a highly successful courtesan, dancing girl or female entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. Many tawaifs were forced to go into prostitution due to a lack of opportunities by the time of the British Raj.
Runa Laila is a Bangladeshi playback singer and composer. She started her career in Pakistan film industry in the late 1960s. Her style of singing is inspired by Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi and she also made a pair with him after replacing another singer Mala. Her playback singing in films – The Rain (1976), Jadur Banshi (1977), Accident (1989), Ontore Ontore (1994), Devdas (2013) and Priya Tumi Shukhi Hou (2014) - earned her seven Bangladesh National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer. She won the Best Music Composer award for the film Ekti Cinemar Golpo (2018).
Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, better known mononymously as Khayyam, was an Indian music director and background score composer whose career spanned four decades.
Umrao Jaan is a 1981 Indian period musical drama film directed by Muzaffar Ali and starring Rekha as the eponymous character. Based on the 1905 Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada, the film tells the story of a Lucknow tawaif and poet, and her rise to fame.
Ayesha Jhulka is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Hindi films, in addition to Bengali, Kannada and Telugu films. In a career spanning over three decades, she has worked in over 60 films.
Muzaffar Ali is an Indian filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, cultural revivalist, and social worker.
Umrao Jaan is a 2006 Indian period musical romantic drama film produced and directed by J. P. Dutta, based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada and is about the famous Tawaif of the title. Aishwarya Rai stars in the lead role along with Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in supporting roles.
Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa was an Indian Urdu poet and writer of fiction, plays, and treatises. He served on the Nawab of Awadh's advisory board on language matters for many years. He spoke many languages including Urdu, Greek, and English.
Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society used to frequent tawaifs (courtesans) for their entertainment.
Umrao Jaan Ada is an Urdu novel by Mirza Hadi Ruswa (1857–1931), first published in 1899. It is considered the first Urdu novel by many and tells the story of a tawaif and poet by the same name from 19th century Lucknow, as recounted by her to the author.
Shahid Hameed, known simply as Shahid, is a Pakistani film actor who starred in many films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Akhlaq Mohammad Khan, better known by his takhallusShahryar, was an Indian academician, and a doyen of Urdu poetry in India. As a Hindi film lyricist, he is best known for his lyrics in Gaman (1978) and Umrao Jaan (1981) directed by Muzaffar Ali. He retired as the head of the Urdu Department at the Aligarh Muslim University, and thereafter he remained sought after name in mushairas or poetic gatherings, and also co-edited the literary magazine Sher-o-Hikmat.
Yousuf Kamal, known professionally as Shakeel Yousuf, was a Pakistani actor best known for his roles in the PTV drama series Uncle Urfi (1975), as Mehboob Ahmed in PTV's Aangan Terha (1984) and as Taimoor Ahmad in Ankahi (1982).
The Muslim social is a film genre in Bollywood that portrays Islamic culture in India. It flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and lasted till the early 1980s. Muslim socials are divided into two categories: "classic Muslim socials" that explore nawabi culture and focus on upper class or elite Muslim families, and "new wave Muslim socials" that portray middle class Muslim families who experience economic problems, discrimination and communal violence. Muslim socials often include ghazals, qawwalis, Urdu poetry and expressions, and musical forms commonly associated with Islamic culture. However, lately the label has also been criticized for cultural ghettoization of minority cinema. Director M.S. Sathyu who made Garam Hava (1973), called it "a skewed way to look at cinema. When there is no Hindu social or Christian social, how can there be a Muslim social".
Umrao Jaan Ada is a 1972 Pakistani musical romantic drama film loosely based on the novel of the same name by Mirza Hadi Ruswa and directed by Hassan Tariq with lyrics and screenplay by Saifuddin Saif. Rani played the title role in the film opposite Shahid while Nayyar Sultana, Zmurrud, Aasia, Rangeela and Allauddin appeared in supporting roles. It revolves around the entire life journey of a tawaif from Lucknow and her tragic romance with a Nawab. The film was a golden jubilee hit at the Box office. Lok Virsa Museum screened the film in 2017 as part of special showcase of the feature films in the country.
Syed Imran Abbas Naqvi professionally known by his stage name Imran Abbas, is a Pakistani actor and model who works predominantly in Urdu television.
Jaanisaar is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language historical drama film, directed by Muzaffar Ali, and written by Javed Siddiqui, Shama Zaidi and Muzaffar Ali. Jaanisaar is a love saga of a revolutionary tawaif of Awadh, India, and a prince brought up in England, set 20 years after the first war of Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film stars Imran Abbas and Pernia Qureshi, the latter making her debut with the film. The film was released on 7 August 2015.
"In Ankhon Ki Masti Ke" is an Urdu song from the Indian film Umrao Jaan (1981). The music to this song was composed by Khayyam, the lyrics written by Shahryar, and sung by Asha Bhosle.
Hassan Tariq was a Pakistani film director, film producer and screenwriter who was famous for making films like Anjuman, Kaneez, Baharo Phool Barsao and Devar Bhabi.
Umrao Jaan Ada is a Pakistani television series based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa's novel Umrao Jaan Ada. It is directed by Raana Sheikh and first aired on Geo Entertainment. Aamina Bano played the title role of Umrao Jaan. The supporting cast features actors Bushra Ansari, Faisal Qureshi, Imran Abbas, Humayun Saeed and Mehmood Aslam in prominent roles. Made with a heavy production budget, it is one of the expensive television series made in Pakistan. The series depicts the tawaif of Lucknow during the mid-nineteenth century. It was a pioneer portrayal of extramarital sex after Zia's era. Due to having several mujra performances as well, the series was termed as too bold at that time.
