Madhuri is back!

Web review

Aaja Nachle
Cast: Madhuri Dixit, and one of the best supporting ensembles
Director: Anil Mehta
Rating: ** and a half

I have never been a Madhuri Dixit fan. Now I am. Aaja Nachle, touted to be the comeback vehicle of a star who ruled the hearts of millions through the nineties, pretty much meets expectations. Expectations, not to be a great film, but one where die-hard Madhuri fans are going to get to see the diva at her best, once again. She moves like a dream, has the most enchanting smile, and captures your imagination with her histrionics. And when you see her do all this with her usual charm, you realise why the nation was driven crazy over the ek do teen girl.

The story, well, is about the done-to-death underdog protagonist, getting together a team of some more underdogs, to take on the world (not literally, of course), emerging triumphant in the end (but obviously!). In that sense, the movie has more than one similarity with Chak De India, another movie from the same banner this year. Only, sport gets replaced by dance, and the protagonist, of course, is a woman this time round. And, as in the case of most movies with a similar theme, it works this time too.

So, to keep it short, Madhuri is a choreographer abroad, who had left the Indian small town she grew up in to follow her dreams. When her guruji (Darshan Jariwala, Mr. Hamster) is on his deathbed, she comes back to town, and finds some people with ulterior motives wanting to get rid of the land guruji used for dance and drama. The challenge now lies in convincing other town folks that the land needs to be preserved. For that, she needs to put up a show in a span of two months, made up of rookie actors from the town itself.

Okay, the story is just about mediocre, in spite of it being an almost direct lift of South American film Xuxa Requebra. The screenplay, worked on to meet Indian sensibilities by Jaideep Sahni (Khosla Ka Ghosla, Chak De India) has some gaping holes too. But in the end, it’s all about Mads. We have seen movies where roles have been written for heroes to display their abilities, without much attention to scripting and other important departments. Aaja Nachle is one such movie. Only, the ‘hero’ this time happens to be Madhuri Dixit. The story and character seem to be ‘lifted’ especially for Madame Dixit to don the greasepaint.

The movie does not bother to resort to gimmicky formulas, and gets down to action right from the word go, with Madhuri gyrating to western music, as the titles roll. From then on, Aaja…exploits all her talents to the fullest, with dance, dhak-dhak moves, and a character that’s lively, emotional, funny and endearing, all at the same time. And to her credit, she pulls it all off, with aplomb. Aiding her is an ensemble of characters, for which every actor has been aptly cast.

Be it the lovelorn Mohan (Ranvir Shourey, in great form), the boring Mr. Chojar (Vinay Pathak, funny), or the scheming businessman Farooq (Irrfan Khan, restrained as usual). All these are actors who have proven their mettle time and again, and add immense value to the film. Kunal Kapoor seems to be getting better with every film, and Konkona is her usual natural self. Akshaye Khanna’s special appearance is delightful, and all his scenes with Madhuri are well-written, and ably performed.

As much as the actors deserve a pat on their backs, the creative team needs to be pulled up for strictly mediocre stuff. The movie takes more than the usual dose of ‘cinematic liberties'. Also, a tighter second half would have made all the difference. Yashraj has been dishing out run-of-the-mill stuff for a while now, and it ain’t getting any better. Except for Chak De..., the banner has given some average to bad films in the recent past. Although this movie does give the viewer something to cheer about, it’s largely due to Madhuri.

All said and done, the movie rests on Madhuri’s able shoulders, and the actor doesn’t disappoint. A comeback that will be remembered for a long time, it may even win her a few awards. Whether this will affect the fate of the movie, remains to be seen. But for those who love Madhuri, dance, and everything Bollywood, do catch this one.