Rekha | Aankhon Ki Masti | Umrao Jaan

Director Muzzafar Ali’s film Umrao Jaan (1981), with the spellbinding performance of Rekha, was a magnum opus of courtesan glory, the depiction of an illustrious tawaif’s life within the cultural cauldron of a nishatkhana (pleasure house). She was no ordinary prostitute. She epitomized Indo-Mughal refinement with her lyrical depth in speech, song and dance, and opulent costumes and jewellery (Guluband and Lara haar- necklaces embedded with rubies and emeralds). But it was the subtlety of adaa, the punctiliousness of everyday living that added to the genius of this film.