Plot
Diya (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. (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 Diya 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.
Cast
Madhuri Dixit as Diya
Akshaye Khanna as MP. Raja Uday Singh
Konkona Sen Sharma as Anokhi
Kunal Kapoor as Imran Pathan
Divya Dutta as Najma
Ranvir Shorey as Mohan Sharma
Felix D'Alviella as Steve
Dalai as Radha
Raghubir Yadav as Doctor
Vinay Pathak as Mr. Chojar
Akhilendra Mishra as Chaudhary Om Singh
Jugal Hansraj as Sanjeev Mehta
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
Nirmal Pandey as Inspector
Crew
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
Shooting began on 15 January 2007 at Film City in Mumbai and ended in March 2007.[2]
Soundtrack
Aaja Nachle
Studio album by Salim-Sulaiman
Released
18 October 2007 (India)
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length 38:45
Label
Yash Raj Music
Producer Aditya Chopra
Salim-Sulaiman chronology
Chak De India
(2007) Aaja Nachle
(2007) Roadside Romeo
(2008)
The film's soundtrack was released on 18 October 2007 composed by Salim-Sulaiman and lyrics by Jaideep Sahni and Piyush Mishra.
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 Rey", made popular by Ansuman Roy. No legal action had yet been taken.
The film's music was well received. This soundtrack debuted at number 9 for the first week.[3]
The song "Dance With Me" features a brass section provided by LiveHorns.com, with Tommy Vaughan on trumpet, Rodney Mills on trombone, and Shane Philen on sax.[4]
The song "Ore Piya" was used in the 2009 Malay movie Talentime.
A few songs from the final sequence of the movie have not been included on the soundtrack, including "Yeh Ishq".
Track # Song Singer(s) Duration Picturised on
1 Aaja Nachle Sunidhi Chauhan 5:04 Madhuri Dixit
2 Ishq Hua Hi Hua Shreya Ghosal, Sonu Nigam 4:24 Kunal Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma
3 Show Me Your Jalwa Richa Sharma, Kailash Kher, Salim Merchant 4:13 Madhuri Dixit, featuring 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 Is Pal Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal 3:59 Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor
7 Koi Patthar Se Na Maare Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam 4:04 Madhuri Dixit , Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor
8 Dance With Me Sonia Saigal 3:39 Madhuri Dixit
9 Nachle ( Reprise ) Sunidhi Chauhan, Marianne 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 mostly panned by critics and audiences alike. 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] However, Madhuri was nominated for the best actress award at the 54th Filmfare awards in 2008.[8]
Controversy
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 (cobblers, the Jatav caste - a caste of cobblers) were inferior to Sunars (goldsmiths, name of a caste of 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). 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
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 reckoned a cult classic by many film enthusiasts being regarded as a pure dance film after a long time comparing it to the classics like Geet Gaya Patharon ne, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baajey, Jal Bin Machhlee Nritya Bin Bijlee and Navarang and the DVD of the movie has been very well received.It was aired on Sony entertainment television in the year 2008.