Twenty
four
years
after
it
first
released
in
1981,
Rekha’s
Umrao
Jaan
re-releases
in
theatres
on
June
27.
A
grand
screening
was
held
for
film
folk
in
Mumbai,
and
Bollywood
turned
up,
suitably
dressed
in
dazzling
desi
wear.
Rekha,
70,
looks
stunning
in a
white
and
gold
outfit,
reminiscent
of
her
Umrao
Jaan
character.
Director
Muzaffar
Ali,
seen
here
with
AR
Rahman,
once
told
Rediff
that
when
he
was
planning
his
dream
project,
he
wanted
someone
with
the
‘adaa‘ and
‘nazaakat‘
of
a
poetess
and
with
a
seductive
stance
of
a
‘tawaif‘.
One
day,
he
saw
Rekha’s
pictures
in
a
magazine
and
knew
he
found
his
leading
lady.
‘It
was
those
eyes,’
he
said.
Alia
Bhatt
recreates
Rekha’s
timeless
look
from
1981’s Silsila
at
the
screening.
The
look
was
styled
by
Rhea
Kapoor.
Did
you
know
that
in
1981,
Rekha
had
as
many
as
14
movie
releases?
Rekha
gives
Tabu a
warm
hug
and
welcome
at
the
screening.
Janhvi
Kapoor.
Khushi
Kapoor.
Nushrratt
Bharuccha.
Fatima
Sana
Shaikh.
Nimrat
Kaur.
Aamir
Khan.
Vijay
Varma.
Muzzafar
Ali
with
his
family:
Son
Shaad
Ali, wife
Meera
Ali,
daughter
Sama
Ali
and
son-in-law
Kaeshav
Sahnan.
Anil
Kapoor
dances
with
Rekha.
Simi
Garewal.
Alizeh
Agnihotri.
Anjini
Dhawan.
Sophie
Choudry.
Hema
Malini.
Johnny
Lever.
Mira
Rajput
Kapoor.
Asha
Bhosle,
seen
here
with
granddaughter
Zanai,
is
the
voice
behind
Rekha’s
evergreen
songs
like
Dil
Cheez
Kya
Hai,
In
Aankhon
Ke
Masti
and
Justuju
Jiski
Hai.
Tanishaa
Mukerji
with
mother
Tanuja.
Ila
Arun
and
Nandita
Puri.
Mahima
Chaudhry
with
daughter
Aryana
and
nephew,
Ryan.
Sunny
Kaushal
with
his
parents,
Veena
and
Sham
Kaushal,
and
Jackie
Shroff.
Manish
Malhotra.
Sunil
Grover.
Nandita
Das.
Sanjay
Khan
with
wife
Zarine
and
daughter
Simone
Arora.
Rekha
catches
up
with
her
Lajja
Director
Rajkumar
Santoshi, and
his
wife
Manila
and
daughter
Tanisha.
Baba
Azmi
with
wife
Tanvi
Azmi.
Tusshar
Kapoor
with
father
Jeetendra
and
Rakesh
Roshan.
Ramesh
Sippy
with
Kiran
Juneja.
Photographs:
Panna
Bandekar,
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff
