http://www.indiafm.com/trade/top5/index.html
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"Umrao Jaan.. Disastrous first week of approx 6 crore. The distributors are going to suffer massive losses of around 70% as the 8th day has seen a total crash of collections."
www.boxofficeindia.com
I totally and utterly agree with you. Ash has not been able to match Rekha in this movie. I am an Ash fan and was expecting a wonderful movie and more so, the Mujrah as I am a great admirer of Ash's dancing skills.
I watched the movie a few days ago and am horror-struck by the quality of the Mujrah dances in the movie. Should we blame the choreographer or the dancer - Ash ?
When we got back home, my wife insisted that we play a DVD containing songs from the old Umrao Jaan. Comparing it, we discovered that we were not wrong.
Mujrah places a lot on Lachak, Machak and Ada/ Nakhra. If you watch Madhuri Dixit in the song "Yeh kis ne haraah rang daala", you will notice the Ada/ Nakhraa, the stabbing of the ground with the fist, the dropping back of the head, the twirl of the eyes, the flickering of the eyes, the dismissal of a thought with flapping of the hand; the list goes on.
In old Umrao Jaan, Rekha displayed similar Ada which is completely absent in the new Umrao Jaan.
As for Lachak, if you view the smart body twirls with rhythm of the tabla music of Madhuri in "Yeh kis ne haraah rang daala" you will see the Lachak. Rekha did a similar (though less Lachakful) Mujrah in the old Umrao Jaan.
The scene of the Mujrah in Faizabad was something I waited for desperately. It falls way short of the "Yeh kya jagah hai doston" in the old Umrao Jaan and the new Umrao Jaan's fate was sealed.
Ash, oh meri Ash, "Yeh too ney kya kar daala ?"
By Mujrah-Aashiq
Mujrah DVDs are my drinking partners when I travel overseas which is a lot)