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Muzaffar Ali speaks ...
Lucknow-born Muzaffar Ali is perhaps best known for making one of the most memorable South Asian films to date, Umrao Jaan. But Muzaffar Ali is clearly no ordinary filmmaker; he is the guardian of the aesthetics of the nineteenth century metropolis, Lucknow –– a city wringed by cultural Kasbahs and a jewel not only in Awadh’s, but also in India’s crown.
The brainchild behind the annual Dehli-based festival of Sufi music, Jahan-e-Khusro, Muzaffar Ali recently directed the critically acclaimed French opera Le Fakir De Benaras in India. He is currently in Karachi where he is organising the spectacular Karwaan-e-Rumi.
Despite the diversity of his admirable endeavours, there lies a common motive to his efforts: to create memorable art that transcends the boundaries of time and space and ultimately give rise to a spiritual awakening. Images caught up with the talented Muzaffar Ali and spoke to him about his beloved Umrao Jaan.
Q. How do you feel about the fact that Umrao Jaan has been remade?
M.A. I have no comment or feeling, negative or positive, mainly because the remake is also based on the novel, like my film.
Q. What made you make Umrao Jaan?
M.A. I work on certain deep-rooted emotions that are connected with my culture; you are led to them through various circumstances and social influences. In a way, I was led to make the film.
Q. What led you there?
M.A. My origins and cultural experiences in Lucknow. I didn’t see its zenith but I saw some moments of culture that pointed to its magnificence. It represented a culture of peaceful coexistence between people that was manifested through poetry, music and the arts; so this film was set in that milieu. One of the aims of the film was to connect with the past with whatever was left of that era — the voices, the words and the stories. And Umrao Jaan seemed like an obvious story for me to express that feeling.
Q. What sort of liberties did you take when adapting the novel for the silver screen?
M.A. We had to edit the storyline and some of the elements could not form a cinematic structure. But we retained the original storyline and its essence: it dealt with the helplessness of a young girl and how those times were reflected by different people and their attitudes. There is a visible part and an invisible part to the film. It is the invisible part that actually draws people to the film. The visible part is the detailing you put into it based on what was left behind, through paintings, miniatures and even photographs.
Q. There were rumours that you were going to remake the film yourself. Is there any basis to the rumours?
M.A. I was thinking of making some changes to the original version, but then I thought it would be a waste of energy to touch a classic. I thought I could add one dimension to the film by filming Rekha as she is now, an older person, telling the story to Mirza Ruswa like in the novel; it would have been interesting. But I dropped the idea.
Q. Would you change the film if you could?
M.A. Every piece of art has a cycle and the cycle of Umrao Jaan is complete; I have outgrown it. Now new cycles have to be created which have to come out through a process of evolution. If I did remake it, I would reshoot certain scenes to make them appear better, but that’s about it.
Q. What made you choose her (Rekha) for the leading role?
M.A. There is resilience in her eyes, the resilience that the film ends with. She isn’t a broken person at the end despite everything. She is a wounded person but she is ready to face the world. Rekha had that kind of look which worked its way through the film, from scene to scene as her life took turns.
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