Music composers Salim-Sulaiman have tried to recreate the timeless classic, Umrao Jaan Ada, through their ghazals and thumris. By Sakshi Sharma
As the musical teaser of Umrao Jaan Ada — Dil Cheez Kya Hai was projected on the screen, I noticed how music composers Salim-Sulaiman Merchant were not looking at the screen but rather eyeing the audience intently trying to read the expressions and fathom their excitement. Their smiles broadened with each waah from the audience indicating how special this teaser was for them.
Umrao Jaan Ada, adapted from the eponymous Urdu classic novel, written by renowned urdu novelist Mirza Hadi Ruswa will be brought alive on stage. Directed by Rajeev Goswami and written by Aashayein (Iqbal) fame screenwriter Irfan Siddiqui, will retell the timeless tale that follows the journey of the famous Lucknow courtesan Umrao Jaan. The story of love and struggle is immersed in culture and opulence with traditional ghazals, thumris and qawalis.
As I was awaiting my turn for the interview of the music composers, a hilarious sight was unfolding before my eyes as the music directors were explaining the nuances of Urdu to the other interviewers “Humein clear instructions mile hain, ‘phool’ hota hai, ‘fool’ nahi.” By then I already knew it was going to be an interesting conversation.
Sulaiman says, “We have done a musical before this, Beyond Bollywood which ran into 600 shows with the same director. This time we wanted to do something truly authentic with charismatic performances and larger-than-life sets. We wanted a script that had meat and could actually take live music and drama to the next level, which is where Umrao Jaan came in.”
Two films have already been made on the novel, one in 1981, where Rekha played the lead and another in 2006. The play has revived the story by bringing the characters alive in a very nuanced manner. This has created a deeper curiosity among the audience. The duo said, “We wanted to bring out the true story of Umrao Jaan Ada. There are lots of facets to it which were not dealt with by the two films. We wanted to bring the characters alive to the core.” The characters are all dolled up in such a manner that the audience can make out the difference between Khanum Jaan, Nawab Sultan and Gauhar Mirza at the very first glance.
The story of Umrao Jaan is not only popular among the older generation but with the newer ones as well. It still has a charm and people hum its songs even now. Sulaiman excitedly said, “That is the reason why we wanted to recreate the epic drama as everyone will relate to it especially because of the music of the original. It’s always great to be able to bring back stuff like this, especially for the younger generation, because they might have heard the music but have not seen the story. They wouldn’t know what a story with a bitter ending is like. The theatre intends to make the younger generation aware about the complexity of relationships.”
This love story, a timeless classic of 19th century, still has the same charm as it had years ago. The duo told us that they are a big fan of it themselves. And that they can still recall listening to its song, Dil Cheez Kya Hai and even after so many years the music feels fresh.
They have tried to recreate the music by capturing its authenticity and weaving it into a beautiful story. The duo says, “Music is a big USP of such shows. Performing Khayyam sahab’s music live along with three of our original songs is a big thing today. He has done so many films but the feeling of music that he created in this particular album can never be measured.”
In recreating the work of such a stalwart, the responsibility of keeping it natural by infusing a personal touch into it is higher. The dialogues and poetry have to be reflect the time. “The dialogues are very beautiful coupled with a lot of poetry. The theatre lovers will undoubtedly enjoy the whole experience. The whole Lucknawi ada of the poetry and the way it is delivered is exceptional. The characters have completely delved into the style of Lucknow,” says Salim and goes on to add, “This musical theatre will make you feel like you have stepped into a different world altogether. The idea was to recreate the whole experience and not create it halfway.”
Going to a musical should be a very immersive experience as you become a part of the story as it unfolds. Salim says, “When you go to watch any musical at Broadway or The Lion King, you get so immersed in it that you feel every emotion — love, sadness and pain. The same has been recreated here. The story will take you away from the madness of traffic, heat, noise and all the chaos that you are in.”
A musical like this will compel you to leave everything behind and just fall in love with Umrao Jaan Ada, again.
Talking about their journeys, the duo shares, “It’s very close to our hearts because we studied Indian and Western classical music, which enhanced our immense love for theatre productions and musicals. So, we wanted the audience to experience something which is akin to our own.” The excitement with which they were describing their love for Indian culture clearly showed that bringing Indian tradition to the forefront meant a lot to them.
During the rehearsals of the musical, a memorable incident touched the duo to such an extent that it would stay in their heart forever. “In the original music, the one that Khayyam sahab did, Ustaad Sultan Khan played the sarangi, which plays a crucial role in the thumris and mujra culture. This time around when we were recording the songs, his nephew and son recorded the same pieces for us, (he pauses with a contemplative smile). It’s very nostalgic for us to know that Khayyam sahab recorded with the father and we are recording with his younger generation,” Sulaiman shares.
Performing it all live and syncing the music with the whole set up of actors and musicians is not an easy task. For the actors, it might have been challenging as they had to sing and dance along with the act. The duo completely agreed and told us, “The cast primarily consists of singers, but getting them to act was not easy. We had to make them understand the nitty-gritty of each character so that they do justice to the stature of what they are portraying. We did many workshops for the whole cast to enable them to fit into the mould that we wanted. They had to bring that authenticity and purity of the Lucknowi Urdu. Getting the whole thing to work seamlessly, with a lot of rehearsals, live music, varied background score was a huge challenge.” He questioned me, “But then, who wants to do easy stuff?” and then answered it himself, “We all want to create a benchmark in our lives and I think this was a perfect one for all us, to create something which is so high up there that it’s impossible to break.”
