The music track of "Umrao Jaan", a J.P. Dutta film starring Aishwarya Rai, will invariably draw comparisons with the audio of an earlier film by the same name when it is released in June.

The music of the first celluloid version of Mirza Mohammed Haadi Ruswa's Urdu novel "Umrao Jaan Ada", released in 1981, was a blend of soul-searching poetry, lilting music and featured a brilliant performance by actress Rekha.

For the period masterpiece, director Muzaffar Ali had teamed up with lyricist Shahryar, who wrote beautiful lyrics like "Dil Cheez Kya Hai" and "Yeh kya jageh hai doston", and composer Khayyam, who lent a timeless quality to the compositions.

Twenty-five years on, veteran filmmaker Dutta, who has shifted his focus from war films to historical dramas, returns with the second version of "Umrao Jaan" and has teamed up with Javed Akhtar and Anu Malik to make it a musical bonanza.

"Dutta and the team working on the music of 'Umrao Jaan' were very conscious of the fact that they will be compared with the old masters. Therefore, they have tried to keep the music in its purest form," a source close to Dutta said.

"All the songs are Urdu ghazals (soulful songs). Dutta's brief to Malik was that the songs should only be ghazals and not the usual film songs," the source told.

The choreography and art direction were so real in the Ali film that they not only added authenticity to the narration but also transported the audience to that era.

Dutta too has attempted to keep the ambience authentic. He transported the musicians to Jaipur and shot the 'mujraa' (dance) scenes in their presence. Those who have seen the rushes of the film, to be released in August, say that musicians in the background have lent a poetic touch.

"Normally, musicians look false... because the musician's hands play something else and the beat of the song is different," said the source.

"Umrao Jaan" depicts the ordeal of an ordinary girl who reaches the pinnacle of fame as a nautch girl but is lonely as her family disowns her.