Mumbai, June 17, 2025 (ANI): In an Exclusive interview with ANI, Director Muzaffar Ali shared about his hunt for Rekha. On re-release of his film ‘Umrao Jaan’ in theatres.
00:00I think the pace of the world has never changed.
00:05It's just the pace of consumerism that changes.
00:16But the human being I think is as receptive to deep thoughts as it always was.
00:27So you cannot blame the world and create poor art.
00:35Art has to have the pace of the heart.
00:40So art is always going to be time taking and intense and if it's got to be far reaching.
00:52Can you share your experience of working with Rekha Ji on this film?
00:58I think working with Rekha was like working with a dream because she was dreaming at the same time as I was dreaming.
01:06And before I could think of something she would already be on it and she'll be with it.
01:12And she got into the character beyond my expectations.
01:16Obviously I had a very clear idea of what the character was and what were the nuances of that character.
01:23What shall I say the cultural ethos of the character.
01:31So all that was there but she lived it.
01:35She became that person.
01:37What in your view made her portrayal of Umrao so unforgettable?
01:45I think that was the main challenge to become Umrao.
01:51To understand the pain of Umrao.
01:54To understand the art of Umrao.
01:56To understand the phenomena of being a woman of that time in that century.
02:04So that was something that came easy to me.
02:10How did you see the relevance of classic storytelling in contemporary cinema?
02:16I think you have to internalize the story.
02:19You have to for a moment forget it's for cinema.
02:24You have to tell yourself the story.
02:26You have to feel the story.
02:28You have to feel the tactile and the tangible and the intangible dimensions of the story.
02:40You have to feel the light and the shade of the story.
02:44The seasons of the story.
02:46And then you'll find it automatically becoming a kind of a story which is meant for cinema.
02:54You know what I mean?
02:56So the cinema emerges out of the fact how much your senses have internalized the story elements.
03:03I think it's coming from the people.
03:05There was a building up of the whole urge to see the film.
03:11Because it was not given to OTT.
03:13And there was this legend of the film going around from one generation to another generation.
03:24So the film was really coming into life on its own accord.
03:30It had its own energy.
03:31It had its own power to become real and be born again.
03:36How do you hope today's generation will take away from this timeless classic?
03:42What are your hopes of it?
03:44I have big hopes but I think this is a one-to-one film.
03:48People have to see the film as their film.
03:51They can see it on their phone.
03:53They can see it on their television.
03:55And collective seeing also will, I think, be there.
04:01But that collective seeing will come from…
04:05It's what they've heard about it, you know.
04:10So they want to see it for themselves, you know.
04:12So that is going to be the first impetus for the collective seeing.
04:16And then I think the intensity of the individual seeing is going to grow.
04:21How did the coffee table book come into being and what can the fans and audiences expect from it?
04:28Will it be a deep dive into the journey of the film?
04:32I think it's going to be a milestone because I think in films these kind of books have often not been possible because of lack of continuity of keeping record and things like that.
04:45So here we had the opportunity of my own record, Kamat Photo Flash, there finding the archives becoming valuable and even grabbing the frames from the restoration process.
05:02That was a big thing because, you know, you don't get an opportunity to grab from the restoration process.
05:08So that was a very big…
05:11Because there you get the right moment, you know what I mean.
05:14The cinematic moment which… the high point of a cinematic sequence, you know.
05:20So I think that…
05:21And then different people writing different aspects about the film, the time of the film, the different dimensions of the film.
05:29So I think it's a collector's book, it's a student's book, it's a lover's book.
05:37So it's got a lot of dimensions and it's a visual treat.
05:41The philosophy of House of Kotwara is about a woman owning her narrative and telling her own story.
05:47When you reflect back, how do you connect it to Umrao Jaan?
05:54I think Umrao Jaan is a story which is told by textiles.
06:02And those textiles you don't buy from shops.
06:05They appear in trunks, they appear in cupboards and they have a legacy, you know what I mean.
06:12It's got a legacy of families, it's got a legacy of a place, culture, character.
06:19So all… and then it's the eye of the artist.
06:21I mean as a painter I could see different hues in the clothes as elements of telling a story, you know.
06:30And conveying feelings.
06:31So that is something that House of Kotwara is just identity, you know what I mean.
06:37House of Kotwara is also empowerment of women through craft.
06:42So… which is again born out of the legacy of doing such films, you know.
