Muzaffar Ali's 1981 classic Umrao Jaan has received a 4K remastered treatment in time for a theatrical re-release on June 27, 2025. The period musical masterpiece has Rekha playing Amiran, a woman sold to a brothel who eventually grows up to be a courtesan and poetess named Umrao Jaan — a performance for which she bagged a National Award for Best Actress in 1982. It was based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa's 1899 Urdu novel "Umrao Jaan Ada". In 2006, J.P. Dutta made a remake starring Aishwarya Rai.
The restored version will be screened as part of PVR INOX's Timeless Classics initiative, which aims to bring renowned classics to the big screens. The painstaking restoration process was undertaken by NFDC-NFAI.
"Umrao Jaan is not just a film I acted in — she lives within me, breathes through me, even now," said Rekha in a statement. "At the time, none of us could have imagined the timelessness of the film, the way it would gently etch itself into the soul of Indian cinema. To see it return to the big screen is like watching an old love letter opened by a new generation. My heart is full."
Ali said the film was an attempt to "resurrect the elegance of an era where love and longing spoke in verse" and expressed his excitement at presenting the film for a younger generation and for those who never got an opportunity to witness the spectacle on the big screen until now.
"Umrao Jaan was not just a film; it was a journey into the soul of a lost culture, a forgotten tehzeeb. Through her pain, poetry, and grace, we tried to resurrect the elegance of an era where love and longing spoke in verse. I had actors who brought a lot of heft to their characters, and then there was Rekha, who lived Umrao Jaan and truly immortalised it. I am thrilled that the film is back on the big screen for a whole new generation to discover a time and culture that is very much a part of our being," he said.
Aside from Rekha's performance, the film won three National Film Awards for Best Music Direction (Mohammed Zahur Khayyam) and Best Female Playback Singer (Asha Bhosle, for "Dil Cheez Kya Hai").