Bollywood superstar Rekha will be attending the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia for a special screening of director Muzaffar Ali’s newly restored film ‘Umrao Jaan’, which will be screened outside India for the first time.
The 1981 National Film Award-winning classic, in which Rekha plays a courtesan poet in 19th century Lucknow, has been restored by the National Film Development Corporation of India – National Film Archive of India under the National Film Heritage Mission.
Ali will also be attending the Red Sea Screening, which is part of the festival’s Treasures series, which will feature six classic international and Arab films, as previously announced. Other titles in the Treasures category include Alfred Hitchcock’s 1944 psychological thriller Spellbound, starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, which will be the first entry in Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation’s Red Sea Festival, which aims to preserve global cinema.
“‘Umrao Jaan’ is intrinsically woven into the very fabric of my soul,” Rekha said in a statement. “She is more than just a character. She acts as a mirror that reflects the depth of my emotions and dreams. In fact, you could say that she reflects my soul through the echoes of many lifetimes and depicts a story that spans millions of heartbeats.”
He added: “The opportunity for this soulful film to breathe new life after 45 years and connect with a new audience at the prestigious Red Sea Film Festival is both exhilarating and deeply meaningful. And to witness this unprecedented moment in which the 1981 classic Umrao Jaan appears in the festival’s Treasures alongside the works of renowned filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock is not only a blessing, but a deeply humbling one.”
The festival, now in its fifth edition, will be held in Jeddah on the eastern coast of the Red Sea from December 4th to 13th.
