In the year 1840, a beautiful and innocent girl named Amiran is kidnapped from her home town in Faizabad and sold to a brothel in Lucknow. The brothel is quite popular and run by a powerful lady named Khanum jaan. She takes particular interest in Amiran and renames her Umrao Jaan and is trained to woo wealthy and affluent clients who visit the brothel. Nawab Sultan is one of them who is struck by Umrao’s beauty.
They both fall in love but the affair does not last long as his family wants him to marry a respectable girl. Umrao’s life is filled with happiness again when she meets bandit Faiz Ali and both fall in love and elope. Sadly he gets killed by the cops and she is forced to return to Lucknow once again. While traveling through Faizabad one day, Umrao recollects her home and goes to pay a visit. Everyone is shocked and surprised to see her as they thought she was dead years ago. They all give her a warm welcome except her brother who forbids her into the home after knowing her profession. Umrao Jaan is then forced to go back to LUcknow only to find her brothel in tatters. The film is directed and produced by Muzaffar Ali. The music is composed by Khayyam. The star cast includes Farooque Sheikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Raj Babbar, Rekha, Shaukant Kaifi, Dina Pathak and Prema Narayana.
