Didn't want to play Gauhar Mirza in Umrao Jaan initially, reveals Naseeruddin Shah 

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) marked the 40th anniversary of Umrao Jaan with an online conversation with the period drama's director Muzaffar Ali, screenwriters Javed Siddiqui and Shama Zaidi, actors Naseeruddin Shah and Satish Shah and singer Talat Aziz. The virtual event was anchored by FTII staff Vaidehi Sancheti and Milind Damle. 

Based on the 1899 novel Umrao Jaan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa, the film revolves around a courtesan in Lucknow called Umrao Jaan, played by Rekha.

The conversation revealed many interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Shah who played the role of the effete Gauhar Mirza revealed that he initially was not keen on playing the character. "When I read the script for the first time, I was not interested in playing Mirza. I thought I should play some He-Man-type macho character instead of this Gauhar Mirza who has a very timid personality, I was adamant about that, but Muzaffar somehow convinced me to play Gauhar Mirza. But the moment we started shooting I realized that Muzaffar was right."

Shah said that he was quite astonished by the depth Gauhar Mirza possesses despite being a supporting character. "Frankly, I didn't know that Gauhar Mirza's character had so many dimensions. He is not exactly an asexual person, but someone who can do without it. I don't think I have come across a person on whom I can base this character," he said.

At the start of the conversation, Damle revealed an interesting fact about the film: Umrao Jaan was released twice. It was released for the first time on 2 January 1981. But because of the audience's lacklustre response, it had to be pulled out of theatres. Meanwhile, the film's music had begun to make waves on the radio and those who had watched the film gave the Umrao Jaan much-needed word-of-mouth publicity. Finally, the makers decided to release the film again in May. And then it became a superhit and achieved cult status.