Bollywood's Most Memorable Films Based On Courtesans

Courtesans are often mistaken for sex workers. The courtesans were highly-skilled performers of art and they used to form relationships with royal patrons.

Over the years, Bollywood films have made many films based on famous courtesans. From Pakeenzah to Umrao Jaan, most of these films showed how a woman was forced to become a courtesan. Hardly any of them showed women who chose to be courtesan and enjoyed the profession. In most films on courtesans, the female actor playing the role was seen performing an item song. The dance performances actually gave agency to the characters. As they twirled with their heavy lehengas in front of a group of men. Not so much trying to please them but to disarm them.

Recently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali directional Gangubai Kathiawadi was released in theatres. The film is based on a Gangubai, a courtesan in Kamathipura area of yesteryear's Mumbai. Gangubai was not just a woman who engaged in sexual relationships with men in exchange for money. In 10950s-1960s, Gangubai rose through the ranks and gained respect from the people of Kamathipura. She fought for the rights of sex workers in her area.

Here Are Some Other Memorable Hindi films on Courtesans:

Umrao Jaan

The 1982 film starring Rekha was directed by Muzaffar Ali. Umrao Jaan's plot was adapted from a book titled Umrao Jaan Ada written by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. As the story goes, Jaan was kidnapped by a cop and sold to a brothel at a young age. She falls in love and gets her heart broken, she grows up to be a celebrated poet of the time and sees her brothel fall destroyed by the British. The film was remade in 2006 starring Aishwarya Rai and directed by J. P. Dutta. Both the films showed Umrao Jaan, a renowned poet, failed by society.

Devdas

The love story directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002 still brings tears to people's eyes. Madhuri Dixit played the character of courtesan Chandramukhi who falls in love with the male lead Devdas, played by Shah Rukh Khan. Chandramukhi tries to pull the male hero away from alcoholism and hardly anything is shown in the film about her life, her life apart from the alcoholic man who came to her. Dixit's Chandramukhi is then put on screen with another female lead of the film, Paro, played by Aishwarya Rai. Paro comes from a respected family in society and shames Chandramukhi for her profession.

Suggested Reading: Neaera, The Athenian Child Slave Raised To Be A Courtesan

Begum Jaan

Set during the partition of India, the protagonist Begum Jaan's role is played by Madhuri Dixit. Unlike Dixit's Chandramukhi, Begum Jaan failed to gain admiration from the audience. The female protagonist runs a brothel in villages and has hard time running her business amidst the political turmoil in the country. The 2017 film was directed by Srijit Mukherji. Dixit's character was called empty and overdone by many critics and the plot was seen as overcrowded with much less to draw from in the end.

Pakeezah

Written, directed and produced by Kamal Amrohi, the film released in 1972 to much applause. The protagonist Sahibjaan is a courtesan in Lucknow. She falls in love with a stranger Salim just by reading a letter written by him to her. The two meet coincidently and are separated soon. When they meet again, they decided to elope and leave the brothel. When Salim seems skeptical of Sahibjaan's courtesan profession, he proposes to marry her. Sahibjaan refuses and goes back to the brothel. In the end, Sahibjaan's father shows up in the picture and since her mother's love story with him shows similarity to her romance with Salim.

Mughal-E-Azam

The 1960 film was directed by K Asif and is known to most cinema lovers. The female protagonist Anarkali, a courtesan, is presented to the prince Salim. The two fall in love and Salim's father, the emperor tries everything in his reach to keep the two apart. The lovers are put through difficult times and Anarkali is then shunned away literally behind a wall.