"In Ankhon Ki Masti Ke" (English: "From the Joy of These Eyes") is an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Umrao Jaan'' (1981). The music to this song was composed by

Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...

, the lyrics written by Shahryar, and sung by

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fil ...

, playing the title character of Umrao Jaan, performs the ''

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

'' as part of the ''

mujra Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society (often connected to the Mughal emperor's court) used to frequent courtesans ...

'' of Umrao's debut as courtesan. The mujra marks the first time Umrao sees her love interest, Sultan Nawab, played by

Farooq Sheikh Farooq Shaikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to ...

. While the lyrics of the song speak of the thousands intoxicated by Umrao's eyes, once she and Nawab see each other, there is space for no other. Umrao spins in her kathak dance whilst singing the song, and her eyes return to Nawab upon completing each round. At the end of the song, she settles into a veiled pose after which she lifts her veil to look directly at Nawab, with a gesture '' both forceful and erotic'' to force him to look into her eyes. Rekha earned

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wit ...

and singer

earned

National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to a female playback singer for the best renditions of songs from soundtracks within the Indian film industry ...

for the movie. In 2017, it was selected as the best song ever picturised on actor Farooq Sheikh by ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

''.

Influences

The song has been described by singer

Bali Brahmbhatt Bali Brahmbhatt is a Gujarati music director and playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or act ...

as one of his favorite songs. He later used the song for

's album ''Songs of Soul'' with the singer's 22 other songs.

References

{{authority control 1981 songs Hindi-language songs Indian songs Asha Bhosle songs Songs with music by Khayyam Ghazal songs