Aaja Nachle is set in a small fictional town of Shamli. By way of flashback Dia (Madhuri Dixit) is a spirited young woman. She is brave, beautiful, life of the town who is born to middle-class parents. Dia is a graceful dancer and favourite of her guru Makarand at the local Ajanta Theatre.
Then she falls in love with a foreigner photographer, who was in town to cover Indian art forms. After her marriage, she makes way to the USA.
A divorce behind her, having a daughter and with 12 years work as a dance teacher, she must go back to India after she receives news that her guru is on his death bed. When she arrives she finds he is gone and has left her the responsibility of saving and reviving the Ajanta Theatre which is now in ruins, the same place where she used to dance.
The problem is that the political officers want 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 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 prior.
Via a posthumous video message, the guru begs Dia to resurrect the town’s cultural hub, which she then instantly decides to do, taking on ravenous politicians, builders with high level contacts dreaming of setting up a shopping mall, and even the local “bhai” Raja. To top it all it is this town she had deserted after her marriage, and now that reportedly hates her.
Raja (Akshaye Khanna) is confused by this cultural activism. Anyway, our Dia promises to set up a massive show in Shamli, bringing (or training) the best dancers within her small town which is a prerequisite. The director wants to use the same “Lagaan” model that prompts our foreign return Dia to attempt and stage a complete musical using a local bunch of Shamli characters in two months, failing which the Ajanta Theatre would make way for a mall.
Ranvir Shorey as the owner of the local tea-stall, Akhilendra Mishra and Irrfan Khan deserve a notable mention in otherwise which is wholly a Madhuri film.
Madhuri Dixit is back.
She is beautiful, has a radiant smile.
And a born dancer.
Cast of Aaja Nachle :
Dia – Madhuri Dixit
Raja – Akshaye Khanna
Imran – Kunal Kapoor
Najma – Divya Dutta
Sanjeev Mehra – Jugal Hansraj
Mr Chojar – Vinay Pathak
Anokhi – Konkona Sen Sharma
Doctor – Raghuvir Yadav
S.H.O. Singh – Yashpal Sharma
Chaudhary Om Singh – Akhilendra Mishra
Irfan Khan
Sushmita Mukherjee
Vinod Nagpal
Ranvir Shorey
Credits of Aaja Nachle:
Producer – Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra
Director – Anil Mehta
Music – Salim-Sulaiman
Story – Aditya Chopra
Dialogue – Jaideep Sahni
Screenplay – Jaideep Sahni
Line Producer – Yogendra Mogre
Executive Producer – Aashish Singh
Lyrics – Jaideep Sahni
Publicity Designer – Fayyaz Badruddin
Dance Director – Vaibhavi Merchant
Cinematography – K.U. Mohanan
Film Editing – Ritesh Soni
Art Direction – Sukant Panigrahy
Costume Design – Dolly Ahluwalia, Manish Malhotra, Mandira Shukla
Production Manager – Ateeq Siddiqui
Sound Department – Indrajit Neogi
Visual Effects – Sherry Bharda, Pankaj Khandpur
Costume and Wardrobe Department – Fabeha
Aaja Nachle, movie review