Asha Bhosle is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the greatest and most influential singers in Hindi cinema. In her career spanning over eight decades she has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and received several accolades including two National Film Awards, four BFJA Awards, eighteen Maharashtra State Film Awards, nine Filmfare Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer, in addition to two Grammy nominations. In 2000, she was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 2008, she was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour of the country. The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged her in 2011 as the most recorded artist in music history.
Awadh, known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India, now constituting the northeastern portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala region of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain scriptures.
A tawaif was a highly successful courtesan singer‚ dancer‚ and poet 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.
Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, better known mononymously as Khayyam, was an Indian music director and background score composer whose career spanned four decades.
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.
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.
Akhlaq Mohammad Khan, better known by his takhallusShahryar, was an Indian academic, 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.
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".
The 29th Filmfare Awards were held in 1982.
Dedh Ishqiya is a 2014 Indian black comedy film directed by Abhishek Chaubey and starring Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Huma Qureshi and Vijay Raaz. Produced by Raman Maroo of Shemaroo Entertainment and by Vishal Bharadwaj, it is a sequel to Ishqiya (2010).
Umrao Jaan Ada is a 1972 Pakistani musical romantic drama film loosely based on the 1899 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.
Mirza Ghalib is an Indian Historical drama television drama series written and produced by poet Gulzar. The series was aired on Doordarshan National in 1988. Naseeruddin Shah played the role of Mirza Ghalib, the famous classical Urdu and Persian poet from Mughal Empire during British colonial rule. The series featured ghazals sung and composed by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh.
Anjuman is a 1986 Hindi drama film directed by Muzaffar Ali, starring Shabana Azmi, Farooque Shaikh and Rohini Hattangadi in lead roles. Set in Lucknow, it deals with exploitation of women and problems of local "chikan" embroidery workers.
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 the love story of a revolutionary tawaif of Awadh, India, and a prince brought up in England, set 20 years after the first war of the 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.
Deedar-E-Yaar is a 1982 Hindi-language romance film, produced by Prasan Kapoor under the Tirupati Pictures Enterprises banner and directed by Harnam Singh Rawail. It stars Jeetendra, Rishi Kapoor, Rekha, Tina Munim and music composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
"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.
