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.^[2] The film stars Madhuri Dixit in her first film after six years, alongside Konkona Sen Sharma, Jugal Hansraj, Akshaye Khanna and Kunal Kapoor in pivotal roles. The film opened to mixed reviews and was declared a flop by Box Office India.^[3]

Plot[link]

Dia (Madhuri Dixit) is a choreographer who lives in New York with her daughter Radha. One day she receives word that her old dance guru is dying. She returns to her hometown called Shamli with Radha to find that he has already died and left her the responsibility of saving the deserted dance theatre Ajanta, which is to be demolished to make way for a shopping mall.

Shamli has changed a great deal since Dia left. Her parents left the town in shame after she eloped for her wedding and their house is now owned by the strict Mr. Chojar and his wife. Her childhood friend Najma is married to Farooque, a successful businessman. Both of them greet Dia coldly. The only ally she has left is her old friend Doctor Saab. To save Ajanta, Dia goes to petition the local MP Raja Uday Singh. He issues her a challenge; if she can put on a successful performance using only people from Shamli, he will cancel the demolition.

That night Dia dances in Ajanta and afterwards calls on the people to help her put on a performance of Laila-Majnu. Jeering at her, they leave the theatre one by one, but Raja remains behind to taunt her. Refusing to accept defeat, Dia goes out into the street the next day to scout for talent. When she returns to the theatre she finds that a group of thugs are burning the set, after being ordered by a local election candidate, Chaudhary Om Singh. Instead of being angry, she is intrigued by the ring-leader, Imram, and makes a deal with Chaudhary that she will help him win the next election if he will support Ajanta and if Imram plays Majnu. He agrees and Imram is forced to take on the role. In the town, the girls find out about this and flock to the theatre for the part of Laila. Among them is Anokhi, a tomboy who is in love with Imram. She begs Dia, who is reluctant because of her rough appearance and lack of talent, but agrees in the end thinking that her love for Imram will make her the ideal Laila. Other parts in the play go to Mr. Chojar, who wants to prove to his wife that he is not boring, Chaudhary who plays Laila’s father and Dia’s former fiancé Mohan, who is able to overcome his bitterness towards her.

With one month to put the show together, Dia struggles to get Imram and Anokhi to work together. With Dia’s support, Anokhi changes her attitude and appearance to get Imram to take her seriously and soon their relationship deepens. A few days before the show, Farooque pays Chaudhary to abandon Ajanta and makes Najma spread hurtful stories about Dia. Chaudhary tries to get Imram to give up his part, but Imram is aware of Chaudhary’s political intentions and refuses, leading him to be attacked by Chaudhary’s men while Anokhi tries to protect him. With the whole town against her, Dia loses hope until Najma arrives to apologise and asks to be in the show.

On the night of the show, Dia is amazed to find that the entire town has come to Ajanta. The troupe put on a performance that amazes and excites the audience, including Chaudhary who is moved to tears. Farooque is stunned to see his wife playing the part of Laila’s mother and Mrs. Chojar is shocked and thrilled when her husband appears singing and dancing on stage. At the end, the audience cheers loudly as the cast return to the stage for an encore. The night is a success and Ajanta is saved.

After Dia says her farewells to Shamli, she and Radha leave to find her parents in another part of India. Imram and Anokhi go on to teach dance classes at Ajanta with Doctor Saab’s help and dance becomes an inherent part of Shamli once again.

Cast[link]

• Madhuri Dixit as Dia
• Konkona Sen Sharma as Anokhi
• Jugal Hansraj as Sanjay Mehra
• Akshaye Khanna as MP.Raja Uday Singh
• Kunal Kapoor as Imran Pathan
• Divya Dutta as Najma
• Felix D'Alviella as Steve
• Dalai as Radha
• Raghubir Yadav as Doctor
• Vinay Pathak as Mr. Chojar
• Akhilendra Mishra as Chaudhary Om Singh
• Yashpal Sharma as S.H.O. Singh
• Nowaz as Dhan Kuber
• Darshan Zariwala as Makarand
• Sushmita Mukherjee as Mrs. Chojar
• Irrfan Khan as Farooque, Najma's husband
• Uttara Baokar as Mrs. Srivastav
• Boman Irani as Inspector Sahib

Crew[link]

• Director: Anil Mehta
• Producer: Aditya Chopra
• Story: Aditya Chopra
• Dialogue: Jaideep Sahni
• Music Director: Salim-Sulaiman
• Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni & Piyush Mishra
• Editing: Ritesh Soni
• Cinematographer: Mohanan
• Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant
• Costumes: Mandira Shukla, Dolly Ahluwalia Tewari & Manish Malhotra

Production[link]

Shooting began on 15 January 2007 at Film City in Mumbai and ended in March 2007.^[4]

Soundtrack[link]

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.^[5] The song "O Re Piya" was later used in the 2009 Malaysian movie Talentime.

Response[link]

Box office[link]

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.^[6] Aaja Nachle has grossed $484,108 from the US and has fared decently in the UK with $788,570.

Reviews[link]

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",^[7] 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."^[8] Madhuri was nominated for the best actress award at the 54th Filmfare awards in 2008.

Controversy[link]

The movie was banned in Uttar Pradesh on the day of its release over alleged casteist remarks.^[9] 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 (the Jatav caste - a caste of cobblers) were inferior to Sunars (goldsmiths).^[10]

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(translated "there is a parade of lovers at my doorstep"). 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.^[11]

Subsequent impact[link]

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[link]

External links[link]

• Aaja Nachle official site
• Aaja Nachle at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Bollywood (Hindi cinema) Directors · Actors · Playback singers · Music Directors · Songs · Bibliography Hindi films A–Z—Highest-grossing Films by year: 1930s · 1940 · 1941 · 1942 · 1943 · 1944 · 1945 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012