Aaja Nachle (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Anil Mehta

Writers:

Aditya Chopra (story)
Jaideep Sahni (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 November 2007 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

Plot:

A New York dance instructor returns to her home village in India after 11 years to find that the arts centre where she learned her craft is to be demolished and replaced with a shopping mall.

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Divorce | Dancer | Elopement | Flashback Sequence

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Madhuri Dixit	...	Dia Srivastav
Darshan Jariwala	...	Guru Makarand (as Darshan Zariwala)
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Doctor
Divya Dutta	...	Najma
Dalai	...	Radha
Felix D'Alviella	...	Steve
Vinod Nagpal	...	Mr. Srivastav
Uttara Baokar	...	Mrs. Srivastav
Akshaye Khanna	...	MP / Raja Uday Singh
Irrfan Khan	...	Farooque - Najma's husband
Akhilendra Mishra	...	Chaudhary Om Singh
Kunal Kapoor	...	Imran Pathan
Konkona Sen Sharma	...	Anokhi Anokhelal
Ranvir Shorey	...	Mohan Sharma
Vinay Pathak	...	Mr. Chojar

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:12A

Filming Locations:

Film City, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Yash Raj Films

Trivia:

Anil Mehta's directing debut.

Soundtrack:

Nachle Nachle Mere Yaar, Tu Nachle

Loved It!

The first thing my dad did when the credits were done rolling (do stay through the end of the credits because they don't tie up a storyline until then), was to pat me on the back and say thank you for pushing him to come see Aaja Nachle because he hadn't seen such a good film in a long time. Not counting Omkara, this was probably the best film I've seen this year. It was uplifting and beautifully done, especially the Laila-Majnu part, which I wanted to watch again. Madhuri (who I was too young to appreciate in her hey-day) was vivacious and elegant and seeing her dancing and her expressions were such a treat. She's surrounded by the stalwarts of Hindi parallel cinema- Raghubir Yadav, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, etc, and I won't even bother saying anything about Akshaye Khanna because I'm just too damn biased. The plot drew from stories that have been around since the beginning of cinema. It's cute and inspiring and it appealled to me more than Chak De India because of the dance/theatre aspect of it. I think Anil Mehta did a wonderful job. As I was leaving the theatre, everyone kept saying how wonderful it was, and that oddly made me feel proud because I think this a truly non-conformist film and if it does well, which it should, it does completely on it's own merit, not because of star-power (Madhuri excluded), gimmicks, or because it's part of some trend. So, do go see it!