Aishwarya Rai's biggest flop was rejected by Priyanka Chopra, ruined director's career, didn't earn even Rs 10 crore

Written by poet and author Mirza Hadi Ruswa in 1899, Umrao Jaan Ada is considered one of the finest novels in Urdu literature. The story revolves around a girl sold into a brothel in her childhood who rises to become one of the most celebrated tawaifs in Lucknow. The novel has inspired numerous adaptations in film and television in both India and Pakistan.

The most renowned adaptation is the 1981 film Umrao Jaan, starring Rekha and directed by Muzaffar Ali, which is often regarded as a classic of Hindi cinema. In 2006, JP Dutta also made Umrao Jaan with Aishwarya Rai as the titular character. It also featured a strong emsemble cast of Abhishek Bachchan (who hadn't married Aishwarya by then), Shabana Azmi, Suniel Shetty, Divya Dutta, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in key roles. 

The former Miss World's performance and JP Dutta's direction did not resonate with viewers and the musical drama bombed at the box office. Made in Rs 15 crore, Umrao Jaan became Aishwarya Rai's biggest flop. It just earned Rs 7.42 crore net in India, as per the Box Office India portal.

Before Umrao Jaan's release, JP Dutta had revealed that not Aishwarya, Priyanka Chopra was his first choice for the film. Talking to PTI in 2005, the director had said, "I had reached a stage where I had to take a decision. I wanted to work with Priyanka. I saw her as Umrao Jaan. But we were at a dead end." He revealed that Priyanka rejected the film because of her "clogged dates diary". Sharing why she refused Umrao Jaan, Priyanka Chopra told PTI in 2005 in a separate interview, "I had great plans about how to play the role. JP saab wanted 90 days of my dates at a stretch which I couldn’t give him. If it didn’t work out, then I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I can’t brood over what didn’t happen when there’s so much that’s happening."

JP Dutta, who had once made India's finest war drama film Border in 1997, was so devastated by Umrao Jaan's failure that it took him 12 more years to direct his next feature Paltan. Released in 2018 and starring Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Harshvardhan Rane, Sonal Chauhan, and Esha Gupta among others, the war drama was also rejected by the audiences. Dutta is now going back to Border 2, but the director will only produce the sequel slated to release on January 23, 2026. Headlined by Sunny Deol, Diljit Dosanjh, an Varun Dhawan, Border 2 will be helmed by Anurag Singh of Kesari-fame. 

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