Aaja Nachle (Hindi:आजा नचले English: Come, Let's Dance) is a 2007 Bollywood film. It was released in India and in the United States on 30 November 2007.[1] The film stars Madhuri Dixit in her first film after six years, alongside Akshaye Khanna, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Kunal Kapoor in pivotal roles. The film opened to mixed reviews and was declared a flop by Box Office India.[2]
Plot
Dia (Madhuri Dixit) is a divorced mother living in New York and must go back to India after she receives news that her dance guru is on his deathbed. When she arrives in Shamli, a small city in western Uttar Pradesh, she finds that he has died and left her the responsibility of saving and reviving the Ajanta Theater where she used to dance. The Ajanta Theater has not been danced in or cleaned in the longest time. She enlists the help of the village doctor who informed her about her guru's illness. (In reality, there is an Ajanta Theatre in Shamli which inspired the writer of the film.).
The problem is that a political leader (Akshaye Khanna) wants it torn down and turned into a shopping mall. The storyline follows Dia and her challenge to stand up for what she believes in and fight for the cause to the end, while trying to win back the love and support of the people of the town whom she walked out on ten years ago. At first she tries to dance like she would when she was at home, but no one was impressed. She was shocked by how much has changed, but didn't give up. How she does it starts with her idea of creating a musical like she did when she lived in India. Tryouts begin and so do stories.
Cast
Crew
Production
Shooting began on 15 January 2007 at Film City in Mumbai and ended in March 2007.[3]
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was released on 18 October 2007 composed by Salim-Sulaiman and lyrics by Jaideep Sahni and Piyush Mishra. A few songs from the final sequence of the movie have not been included on the soundtrack including "Yeh Ishq".
The title song "Aaja Nachle" is found to be an almost note-by-note copy of a much older Bengali folk song "Dada Paye Pori Re" made popular by Ansuman Roy. No legal action had yet been taken.[citation needed]
The film's music was well received. This soundtrack debuted at number 9 for the first week.[4] The song "O Re Piya" was later used in the 2009 Malaysian movie Talentime.
| Track # |
Song |
Singer(s) |
Duration |
Picturised on |
| 1 |
"Aaja Nachle" |
Sunidhi Chauhan |
5:04 |
Madhuri Dixit |
| 2 |
"Ishq Hua Hi Hua" |
Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal |
4:24 |
Kunal Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma |
| 3 |
"Show Me Your Jalwa" |
Salim Merchant, Kailash Kher, Richa Sharma |
4:13 |
Madhuri Dixit and other cast members |
| 4 |
"O Re Piya" |
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan |
6:19 |
Madhuri Dixit and other dance classmates with Steve taking pictures |
| 5 |
"Soniye Mil Ja" |
Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Madhuri Dixit |
3:37 |
Madhuri Dixit, Vinay Pathak |
| 6 |
"Iss Pal" |
Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal |
3:59 |
Kunal Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma |
| 7 |
"Koi Patthar Se Na Maare" |
Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan |
4:04 |
Madhuri Dixit, Kunal Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma |
| 8 |
"Dance With Me" |
Sonia Saigal |
3:39 |
Madhuri Dixit |
| 9 |
"Aaja Nachle (Reprise)" |
Sunidhi Chauhan, Marianne D'Cruz |
3:28 |
All the cast members |
Response
Box office
Madhuri Dixit (center) in
Aaja Nachle
Aaja Nachle opened to a poor response. The domestic performance of the film was below average mostly everywhere. Overseas the response was lukewarm as well.[5]
Reviews
The film was received with mixed reception from both critics and audiences. The lead performances received mixed reviews. Khalid Mohammed from the Hindustan Times wrote, "Madhuri Dixit has a cool time. Konkona is overacting while Kunal Kapoor is flustered",[6] while Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN noted, "Madhuri is the one and only star of the film. Konkona Sen Sharma is nothing short of fantastic. Her greatest strength is that she isn't afraid of making a fool of herself and she doesn't worry about being laughed at. As a result, her performance in Aaja Nachle is fearless and uninhibited."[7] Madhuri was nominated for the best actress award at the 54th Filmfare awards in 2008.
Controversy
The movie was banned in Uttar Pradesh on the day of its release over alleged casteist remarks.[8] Dia, the character played by Madhuri Dixit, sings the lines Mohalle mein kaisi maara-mar hai; bole mochi bhi khud ko sunar hai ( translated "There is chaos in the neighborhood, even the Mochi (Cobbler) calls himself a Sunar (Goldsmith)". Dalit groups said the line implied that Mochis (cobblers, the Jatav caste - a caste of cobblers) were inferior to Sunars (goldsmiths, name of a caste of goldsmiths).[9]
Punjab and Haryana followed suit, banning the film the next day. However the ban was later lifted in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, after a written apology from the producers and the removal of the disputed lyrics (bole mochi bhi khud ko sunar hai) in the title song. The lyrics were replaced by other words (mere dar pe deewano ki bahaar hai). However, a ban was imposed in the city of Patna on 2 December 2007. The issue was also raised in the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) by RPI member Ramdas Athawale who sought a ban by the government for hurting Dalit sentiments, but Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said that it was the responsibility of state governments to take any such action.[10]
Subsequent impact
Although the movie was not received too well at the box office, it went on to become a favorite with a segment of the audience, notably Madhuri fans. The title song "Aaja Nachle" became a favorite at clubs and marriages. The movie is regarded as a pure dance film after a long time comparing it to the classics like Geet Gaya Patharon Ne, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli and Navarang. It was aired on Sony Entertainment Television in the year 2008.
References
External links
