Best movies like Umrao Jaan

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Umrao Jaan Starring Rekha, Farooq Shaikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Raj Babbar, and more. If you liked Umrao Jaan then you may also like: Young at Heart, Umrao Jaan, Upendra, Waltzes from Vienna, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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Amiran is sold to a brothel by a corrupt cop after her father testifies against him. Many years later, she grows up to be an accomplished poetess and a renowned courtesan, Umrao Jaan.

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Young at Heart

The lives and romances of three sisters in a musical family; the youngest daughter's life is complicated by the subsequent arrival of a charming composer and a cynical music arranger.

Umrao Jaan

Bollywood film about the famous courtesan of the title. Aishwarya Rai stars in the lead role. The film is directed by J.P. Dutta and also stars Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Divya Dutta, Himani Shivpuri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. A remake of the original directed by Muzaffar Ali and released in 1981.

Upendra

Naanu, who always speaks the truth, is married to Swathi. However, he is soon pursued by Rathi and is forced to accept her love but finds it difficult to let go of his obsession with Keerthi.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

A bomb disposal expert becomes bitter and lonely and is unable to fall in love until he is forced to deal with his past.

Jeet

The story of a hitman who kills for the mob, but on one job he falls madly in love with a girl, who happens to be the beautiful daughter of an associate.

Kabhi Kabhie

A story spanning two generations, where two lovers are forced to marry against their will, but hold onto memories of their romance. Years later circumstances force them to confront their spouses, their children and each other.

Khilona

Thakur Suraj Singh lives a wealthy lifestyle with his wife; three sons - Kishore, his wife Laxmi & two children Pappu and Laali; Vijaykamal, & Mohan; and an unmarried daughter, Radha. Kishore looks after the family business, while Vijaykamal is a renowned poet, and Mohan is studying law in the city. Vijaykamal is in love with lovely Sapna, but she is forced to marry Bihari, and kills herself on the night of the marriage. Vijaykamal witnesses her death and loses his mind. The family decide to keep him under lock and key on the terrace of their house. Unable to admit Vijaykamal to a mental asylum, Suraj brings home a young courtesan, Chand, who he hopes will cure Vijaykamal, and she does succeed considerably, but is traumatized, sexually assaulted by Vijaykamal, and abused by the rest of the family.

Khoon Aur Paani

Singh is a farmer and lives a poor lifestyle along with his wife, and two sons, Ram and Laksman. The region is drought stricken, while in contrast there is plenty of water being pumped to bath the dogs of Thakur Vikram Singh. When Ram decides to divert some water for their parched fields, Vikram kills his father. An enraged Ram goes to avenge his death, manages to kill Vikram's brother, but is seriously injured, loses his memory and ends up with a gang of bandits and is renamed Thanedar Singh as he was dressed in the clothes of a police inspector. Lakshman gets separated from his mother and is found near a river bank by Police Commissioner Bhalla, who adopts him. Years later the two brothers are fated to meet again albeit as strangers and mortal enemies as Lakshman is a incognito CBI Officer, while Ram is dreaded bandit Thanedar Singh who is unable to recall his childhood, and loses control whenever he hears the sound of a water-pump.

Kuchhe Dhaage

In the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, particularly in the Chambal Ravine there are abundance of bandit gangs, chiefly consisting of Brahmans and Thakurs, both carrying on their age-old rivalry and hatred for each other from generation to generation. Our story revolves around Brahman Pandit Tulsiram who betrays Thakur Bahadur Singh to the police, and as a result Bahadur is sentenced to be hanged.

Bachna Ae Haseeno

Raj is a heartbreaker. His love stories with Mahi, Radhika and Gayatri finally teach him about love and life in their own sweet, sexy and sassy way.

Camille

Camille is a courtesan in Paris. She falls deeply in love with a young man of promise, Armand Duval. When Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Camille discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her.

Mughal-e-Azam

A 16th century prince falls in love with a court dancer and battles with his emperor father.

Devdas

After his wealthy family prohibits him from marrying the woman he is in love with, Devdas Mukherjee's life spirals further and further out of control as he takes up alcohol and a life of vice to numb the pain.

Saawariya

Two souls arrive in a small town, one on vacation, the other to meet a lover. They spend the most magical dream-like days of their lives in that town... with each other.

Ram Balram

Ram and Balram are 2 young boys who live with their loving parents. Their scheming uncle, Jagatpal, however kills the boy's father and mother. Jagatpal lies to the boys that their parents have been killed in an accident and promises to raise them himself. He enrolls the younger brother Balram, in school and eventually sends him off to join the police force. The older becomes a mechanic. Jagatpal has a tight hold on the boys, even when Ram is an adult, he still gives all his wages to his uncle and is only allowed to keep a few rupees for pocket money.

Premature

The summer before she leaves for college, Ayanna meets handsome and mysterious outsider Isaiah; her entire world is turned upside down as she navigates the demanding terrain of young love against a changing Harlem landscape.

The Honorary Consul

Set in a small politically unstable Latin American country, the story follows the half English and half Latino Dr. Eduardo Plarr, who left his home to find a better life. Along the way he meets an array of people, including British Consul Charley Fortnum, a representative in Latin America who is trying to keep Revolution from occurring. He is also a remorseful alcoholic. Another person the doctor meets is Clara, whom he immediately falls in love with, but there is a problem: Clara is Charley's wife.

Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki

Thakur Rajnath Singh Chouhan opens a can of worms when he announces that he is going to marry a prostitute by the name of Tulsi. His mother will not even consider Tulsi as a daughter-in-law, and would prefer that he marry Sanjukta. Tulsi convinces him that he should marry the woman of his mother's choice, which he eventually does. Thereafter Tulsi gives birth to a baby boy, Ajay, and passes away. Sanjukta raises Ajay as her own child, even after the passing away of Rajnath, and even after giving birth to Pratap. Ajay is given the entire responsibility of the estate, while Pratap squanders money on courtesans and alcohol. Sanjukta trusts Ajay, until one day when a villager complains to her that Ajay has got his daughter, Geeta, pregnant; additionally she also finds out that Ajay has been misappropriating money, and also owes money to a prostitute named Leelabai, the very woman who sold Tulsi to Rajnath.

Loha

A well-meaning but disgraced cop, is determined to fight a corrupt system, taking to task miscreants and criminals in his city.

Chemmeen

Karutthamma, the daughter of a Hindu fisherman, falls in love with a Muslim fish trader. However, social prejudices seem to ruin their love life and invite the wrath of their communities.

Mere Huzoor

Akhtar Hussain saves the life of Nawab Salim, and earns his gratitude. Salim invites Akhtar to come to his palatial home, and Akhtar does so. On the way, he meets beautiful Saltanat, and falls in love with her. On arrival at Salim's house, Akhtar is treated with utmost respect, provided employment, and a place to live. Akhtar meets with Saltanat and both plan to get married. Unknown to them, Salim also loves Saltanat, but Saltanat rejects his advances, and proposal, leaving his heartbroken. Soon Saltanat and Akhtar get married and settle down. Saltanat soon gives birth to a son. Salim is very affectionate with this child, and the child too grows to like Salim. Akhtar, meanwhile, has fallen in bad company, drinks alcohol, and romances a courtesan.

Bomba and the Hidden City

A nature photographer and his guide meet a corrupt emir with a dirty secret. Only jungle-dwelling Bomba knows the truth.

Kalank

Set in 1945, in Pre-Independent India, the elite, opulent and solemn world of the Chaudhry family, and the wild, mysterious and musical underbelly of the town, Hira Mandi, clash when Roop Chaudhry encounters Zafar, a daredevil from Hira Mandi, unleashing deep-buried truths, secrets of betrayal and affairs that threaten to bring both worlds crashing down.

Janwar

The wealthy patriarch of a Mumbai family learns more than he wants to about his own origins after his refusal to accept his sons' chosen spouses drives them and his own wife away.

Mehboob Ki Mehndi

Yusuf lives a wealthy lifestyle with his businessman dad, Safdarjang, who is confined to a wheel-chair. When Yusuf's precocious nephew, Khalid alias Phirangi's tutor, Mrs. Albert complains about him and quits, Yusuf hires Shabana, who along with her granny, have come to live with them for a short period of time. He also hires a man named Khairudin as a servant to look after his dad. Yusuf and Shabana are attracted to each other and intend to marry, much to the joy of Safdarjang and the granny. The wedding preparations are on, but there are a couple things Yusuf and his family do not know. One is that Shabana is the daughter of a Courtesan named Najma; and that Khairudin has secured employment in order to kill Yusuf.

The Courtesans of Bombay

In the Mumbai, India, tenement community of Pavanpul, young female courtesans sing, dance and perform sexual favors for male clientele. Directors James Ivory and Ismail Merchant blend documentary footage and dramatic reenactments in their exploration of this seamy underworld, the flip side of the Bollywood film industry, where aspiring actors and dancers -- some even sold into prostitution by their own families -- end up, with their innocence lost and their hopes for movie stardom shattered.

Jaane Jaan

When a single mother becomes ensnared in a deadly crime, her neighbor — a gifted math teacher — comes to her aid and a tenacious cop digs into the case.

Begum Jaan

On the eve of Independence, the chairman of the Border Commission, Sir Cyril Radcliffe decides to divide India and Pakistan into equitable halves. What the administration doesn’t account for is the line running through the middle of Begum Jaan’s brothel situated plonk on the border; with one half falling in India and the other in Pakistan.

Dada Sahib

Dada Mohammed Sahib popularly called Dadasahib, is an old freedom fighter, and his son Abubacker is a former subeidar in the army. Abubacker is the brave son of a brave father, cannot help himself from reacting when he finds some terrorist activities and arms racket taking place in his own town Thaliyoor.

Mirza Ghalib

This movie depicts the life of once wealthy poet and nobleman Mirza Ghalib. This story portrays his trials, tribulations, triumphs, and ultimate descent to poverty, and then to prison; and his tragic and ill-fated love with a beautiful courtesan named Chaudvin.

Mere Mehboob

While studying in Aligarh Muslim University, Anwar Hussain Anwar falls in love with a veiled woman and is unable to get her out of his mind. En route to Lucknow, they meet with Nawab Buland Akhtar Changezi, and subsequently meet with him a few days later so that he can use his influence to secure an editor's job for Anwar with a magazine. Nawab then asks Anwar to teach his sister, Husna, some poetry, to which he agrees, and eventually finds that she is the very same veiled woman. Both fall in love with each other and the Nawab approves of this alliance, even though Anwar lives a poor lifestyle. The formal engagement ceremony takes place and arrangements are made for the wedding to take place soon. The heavily indebted Nawab does not realize that soon he will find Anwar in the company of a lowly courtesan, Najma; and pressure will be brought on him to get Husna to marry wealthy Munne Raja - who is all set to auction the former's mansion as well as belongings.

Pakeezah

A beautiful courtesan is unable to break away from the cycle of prostitution until a forest ranger falls in love with her. Unfortunately, his wealthy parents oppose the union.

Shama Parwana

Gul Mirza is a poet who lives with his widowed mother in Hindustan circa the Mughal Rule. He sings in Arkat-Ul-Daula's palace, and wins praise from his daughter, Sahebzadi Aalam. He then also meets with her dad, accepts and wins a challenge, and is recruited in the army. Both he and Aalam fall in love with each other. He is then asked to travel along with 1000 soldiers to a distant region in 3 days time, which he does, though this journey and the battle nearly cost him his life. He returns home and Arkat promises to let him wed his daughter. Little does Gul know that soon his and his mom's life will be turned upside down, when he will be attacked by Arkat's men, and he will be forced to defend himself and speak out against Arkat - and be declared a rebel - and perhaps never be able to meet Aalam again.

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