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Cast:
Madhuri Dixit, Akshaye Khanna, Konkona Sen |
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Kunal Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Irrfan Khan, |
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Divya Dutta |
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Cinematographer: Anil Mehta |
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Editor: Ritesh Soni |
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Banner:
Yash Raj Films |
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Producer:
Aditya Chopra |
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Direction:
Anil Mehta |
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Music:
Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant |
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Choreographer: Vaibhavi Merchant |
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Story:
Jaideep Sahni |
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shot of AAJA NACHLE has Akshaye Khanna (yes, he is there in
the film) offering one large STARBUCKS coffee to Madhuri
Dixit in the US of A. Curtains on the screen go down and my
next seat cinegoer tells his girlfriend - "You know what,
STARBUCKS may be coming to India soon". As I walk down the
aisle, another IT type patron is heard grumbling with his
friend - "I have to go to office this weekend to work on my
Monday presentation". And absolutely killing comment comes
from close by as I take the elevator down to basement
parking. A woman says, "Good there is not too much of crowd
around. When I watched GOAL last weekend for the same show,
it took me more than 30 minutes to get my car back on road -
it was so crowded then." |
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Get the picture? Those who watched this two and a
hour long movie had everything to talk about ranging
from coffee to presentations to parking hassles but
nothing about the film or it's USP - Madhuri Dixit's
comeback. It is plain indifference to what director
Anil Mehta brings to screen that proves to be
undoing of AAJA NACHLE. AAJA NACHLE isn't the case
of first half being better than the second half or
vice versa. Instead it remains consistent throughout
but on an average to below average side. There are
possible a couple of high points in the first as
well as the second half but that's about it. |
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When
Madhuri decides to get back to Shyamali (her home town) to
save Ajanta (the theater) from being fed to land grabbers,
you get to hear her past when her Guru (Darshan Zariwala in
long locks wig which justifies the tag of 'pagalchi' given
to him) taught her how to 'dance' and 'live', in her own
words. While the sequences which follow are strictly ho-hum,
what brings the spark is introduction of a young phoren-educated
MP - Akshaye Khanna - who is only fair to let Ajanta stay on
if Madhuri can get the folks of Shyamali do a show all by
themselves. Though a couple of scenes here are dramatic and
revive your interest in the film, the sheer concept of
making a team to bring on screen the legend of 'Laila Majnu'
and make a team of actors is hardly inspiring. |
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You have a goon (Kunal Kapoor), a big mouth (Konkona
Sen), a Government officer (Vinay Pathak), an
insurance agent (Jugal Hansraj), a hotel-wallah (Ranvir
Shorey), a we-don't-know-who (Asha Sachdev - was she
a prostitute?) and a local politician (Akhilendra
Mishra) coming together to be a part of this song
and dance routine but how they become actors and
dancers from being nothing at all is 0% convincing.
This is because the script doesn't even tell how
they were trained nor is any justification to their
mere presence in the show. Madhuri's 'mantra' in
this town, which cares least about this 'naach-gaana',
is to catch hold of anyone and everyone who is
willing to join in her mission to save the theater.
Hmmm...not happening! |
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Clichéd
situations follow and you feel something may change for
better as the character of Irrfan Khan is introduced.
Shockingly his mere consent to have accepted the role of a
builder looking at grabbing the land for the creation of a
shopping mall is a major compromise for this supremely
talented actor who is cruelly wasted. As for his wife Divya
Dutta, less said the better as one would have accepted at
least a decent performance from the woman who more often
than not has always made her presence felt. In AAJA NACHLE,
she doesn't!
What
kills the film completely is the climax 'nautanki' which
lasts for as long as 20 odd minutes. 'Laila Majnu' story is
told in song and dance format as varied genres and range
follow one after another to create a collage of boring
proceedings on screen. In fact the only high point here is a
jig by Vinay Pathak who thoroughly seems to be enjoying a
dancing part. |
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Even though the 'nautanki' choreography here is just
about ok and the story telling plain average, you
are forced to witness some really hammy scenes
featuring couples discovering love for each other,
goons turning moist eyed, hearts changing and every
other cliché that is the hallmark for a film that
should not work. Sorry Jaideep (Sahni), one expects
nothing less from the writer of CHAK DE INDIA,
COMPANY and KHOSLA KA GHOSLA! |
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bring us to the USP of the film - Madhuri Dixit. Does her
comeback work? Well, not quite. She is fine with her act
(good) and dance (very good) but the film fails her
completely. First and foremost on paper itself the subject
line doesn't excite. And the final nail in the coffin is the
execution which is only marginally better than YRF's last
no-show LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG.
But can
one blame the audience? Certainly not. "Ok, so we have sold
enough of NRI dreams so let's bring on a story about a small
town and it's 'sadiyon purana' theater which is turning into
a 'khandhar" - folks at Yash Raj Films must have thought.
Errr, but with a subject like this which is offbeat for
sure, won't it have helped to sprinkle it with enough masala
(could have been either drama, comedy or sheer feel good
factor - something which YRF has taught to many bigwigs as
well as newbie film makers)? |
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Sadly, this is where the film fails the second time
around since if just the subject by itself was not
enough, the treatment is absolute letdown. And
treatment by the way includes everything from
storytelling to performances to music placement. The
film plain and simple bores which results in the
feeling of complete indifference, as mentioned
above. |
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