Dec 01, 2007 08:42 PM
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There was a lot of hype and expectations from the Yash Chopra’s last movie of 2007, Aaja Nachle, simply because it was Madhuri Dixit’s comeback. So does this film is indeed a perfect one? Does it entertain and make you ‘jhoom’ and dance? The answer to it is yes and no. Yes, because the film has a great story, performances, and beautiful climax. And No, because it was not perfect for Madhuri’s comeback. Take for instance other stars of Bollywood who made a comeback after a lot of years. Their ‘comeback’ movie was great one and made everyone throng the theatres to watch it. But that’s not the case with Aaja Nachle.
The story of the movie: Dia (Madhuri Dixit), an Indian choreographer based in New York, gets an unexpected call one day that his guru Makarand (Darshan Zariwala) is about to die and wants to see her for one last time. Makarand holds a special place in Dia’s life. It was Makarand who taught Dia how to dance, and how to live. Dia, thus returns, to her hometown in India, Shamli in order to see Makarand. However, Makarand had passed away by that time. Makarand’s last wish was to save their dance place, the Ajanta theatre, from demolition. The town wanted to demolish the Ajanta theatre in order to make place for a mall. Now it is upon Dia to save the theatre. For this, she meets Rajasahab (Akshaye Khanna), the MP, and persuades him to stop the demolition of Ajanta. But Rajasahab throws a challenge at Dia-he tells Dia to organize a cultural dance show at Ajanta, and the artists should be the common people from Shamli itself. If the show becomes successful, he will not make the mall there. Dia takes up the challenge. She had two months to organize the show. Out of the two months, the first 30 days went in selecting the actors for the show named ‘Laila Majnoo’. The actors were Imran (Kunal Kapoor)-a local goonda; Anokhi (Konkona Sen Sharma); Mr Chojar (Vinay Pathak)-a government official; Chaudhary Om Singh (Akhilendra Mishra)-a local ex-MLA; Sanjeev Mehta (Jugal Hansraj)-an accountant and Binduji (Asha Sachdev). These people knew nothing about dance and music. Will they help Dia in organizing a huge successful show? Will they help Dia in saving Ajanta??
It will be wrong to say that Aaja Nachle is a big disappointment (as said by almost all the movie critics). Aaja Nachle has a beautiful story, distinct characters, unique situation and wonderful climax.
The main plot begins as soon as the story starts. The writer/director doesn’t waste time unnecessarily. Also, one expects Madhuri’s flashback in the beginning to be a long one, but it ends soon.
The first half is totally enjoyable, especially after the title track. However, the film falls down in the second hour. The troubles created by Irrfan Khan and others for Madhuri Dixit was not sufficient in generating enough drama. There could have been something better.
However, the climax is the biggest plus-point. The climax is wonderfully depicted and was very beautiful. And special mention should be made of Jaideep Sahni’s screenplay. Jaideep Sahni had earlier written the story and screenplay of Chak De! India. Like in Chak De! India, in Aaja Nachle too, you know what is gonna happen in the ending but though you enjoy the movie. That’s a big speciality of Jaideep Sahni’s screenplays. Really, he’s a gifted writer. But it would be wrong to say that Aaja Nachle is Jaideep’s one of the finest works. Because, though the movie is engrossing, it is not thoroughly interesting, especially in the second half.
Now to the performances! Each actor has done a great job, but one actor who rises above all is…..no prize for guessing! It is none other than Madhuri Dixit! She looks as beautiful, as fresh as ever! In each scene, she was looking fantastic. And in the title track, her performance was so nice that it cannot be described in words! Really, she is still Bollywood’s one of the finest actress! I hope I get to see her more now! You too hope the same!
Kunal Kapoor was great, no doubt, but his character was half-baked. Konkona Sen Sharma went completely into the skin of the character. But her performance was much better in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Life in a…Metro.
Ranvir Shorey gives really a very nice performance. Same is with Vinay Pathak, who was very good. Yashpal Sharma hardly had anything to in the entire movie, however, he lended adequate support in the climax. Akhilendra Mishra was perfect for his character. Jugal Hansraj was okay.
Darshan Zariwala was amazing! His look was different and unique and his performance was as usual, outstanding! Raghuveer Yadav and Dalai (as Madhuri’s daughter) were good in supporting roles. Felix D’Alviella looks cool. Irrfan Khan was as usual perfect. Akshaye Khanna was cool. Others were okay.
Salim-Sulaiman’s music was great, but could have been better. As for the songs the best has to be the title track. Others which were great were Dance With Me, Ishq Hua and O Re Piya.
Mohanan, who brilliantly captured the scenes of the movie Don, does a great job again in Aaja Nachle. Vaibhavi Merchant’s choreography was superb. Art Direction was excellent.
Jaideep Sahni’s dialogues were sharp and normal.
Anil Mehta, who has cinematographed good movies, does a great job as the director. He doesn’t go off track and will surely do a great job in his future directorial projects.
Some of the best scenes of the movie:
1. The song ‘Dance With Me’
2. Madhuri’s flashback
3. The video clip of Darshan Zariwala
4. The title track (fabulous!)
5. Kunal Kapoor’s entry
6. The scene where Vinay Pathak requests Madhuri to take him for the show
7. All scenes of Akshaye Khanna
8. The scene where Madhuri tells Konkona about love and men
9. The climax
On the whole, Aaja Nachle is a feel-good movie. It is not perfect for Madhuri’s comeback, but though, it is enjoyable. It has better chances in multiplexes than in single-screens. And if you are a Madhuri fan, don’t even think of missing it!
(MAKE SURE YOU REACH THE THEATRE ON TIME SO THAT YOU DON’T MISS THE SUPERB TRAILER OF YASH CHOPRA’S FORTHCOMING FLICK 'TASHAN' AND 'ROADSIDE ROMEO'!!)
(AND PLZZ RATE MY REVIEW AND ADD A COMMENT)
