Volume 1, Issue 3 (April, 2014) Online ISSN-2348-3520 1 Available online on www.saiompublications.com Published by: Sai Om Publications Sai Om Journal of Arts & Education A Peer Reviewed International Journal MUZAFFAR ALI’S UMRAO JAAN: A FEMINIST INTERPRETATION Sandeep Kaur Project Fellow, Department of Comparative Literature, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India Email: sandips.simmy87@gmail.com ABSTRACT In this paper I present the various issues through the character of a prostitute. How she faces oppression and rejection at various stages in society. She is paying without any fault of her own and thrown to this profession by force by her own uncle only to take revenge from her parents against whom he had lost a case. It was originally written and published in Urdu by Muhammad HadiRuswa in 1899, the distressing story of Umrao reflected the lives of courtesans in colonial India. Keywords: Colonial; Oppression Prostitute INTRODUCTION In this paper I present the various issues through the character of a prostitute. How she faces oppression and rejection at various stages in society. Set among the elite Muslim society in mid- nineteenth century northern India, Umrao Jaan portrays a romanticized version of a prostitute. The Umrao Jaan is a Bollywood film produced by Muzaffar Ali in 1981, which has been remade by J. P. Dutta in 2006, tells the story of an Indian girl child which is based on an Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada written in 1905 by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. This plot is indicative of the heroine’s longing for a better life and a path towards self-actualization. The film is set in the year 1840 and deals with patriarchal violence towards women. Set among thin mid e elite Muslim society in mid nineteenth century northern India Umrao Jaan portrays a romanticized version of tawif. The film is set in the year 1840 and deals with patriarchal violence towards women. The heroine is portrayed in time with traditional role of woman in which she is only entitled to minimal levels of formal education .Thereafter the traditional role requires her to be confined to the home in order to uphold the family and household duties or in case of Amreen to dance and sing in courtesan. Umrao Jaan in love with a wealthy man that visits her and who marries another woman. The action of male lover also highlights the traditions that govern the Indian life. The film questions the idea of image of woman, idea of romance, the imposition of a patriarchal order upon her and her journey towards self definition. The character of Umrao Jaan suffers a great injustice in the narrative of this film, first from society and then from her blood relatives. Umrao Jaan is left alone in the end. Even though her mother is happy to see her but her brother refers to her as renowned courtesan and forbids his mother to accept her. In keeping with the ideologies of the lives in which men had more power than women , Umrao Jaan ‘s mother is depicted as weak in contrast to her son. Umrao Jaan is depicted as a female protagonist within a patriarchal society. Her character undergoes tragedies such as being kidnapped, then forced into a life of prostitution and ultimately being rejeceted by the only man she loves. She agrees to marry a bandit because her need to overpowers her true feelings. The film portrays the woman as victim of circumstances .The traditional position of the women in society to accept their suppressing circumstances play a major part in this film.