Though her Aaja Nachle didn’t strike gold at the box office, Mrs Madhuri Dixit Nene, we hear will be trying another shot at the box office, sooner than later.MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Madhuri Dixit, Konkona Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Raghubir Yadav, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Darshan Zariwala and Irrfan Khan
Director: Anil Mehta
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Music : Salim Sulaiman
Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni & Piyush Mishra
THE FILM
Aaja Nachle was touted to be one of the biggest comeback films ever. After all Madhuri Dixit was coming back to silver screen 5 years after Devdas (2002). If combination of Yash Raj Films with Madhuri wasn't good enough, an added spice in the form of Jaideep Sahni (Chak De India) as a writer contributed to expectations level being an all time high. More positives came in form of the subject of the film, which dealt with dance. Obviously, Madhuri fans were expecting a treat in the offering since there was a stage set for them to scream 'Show Me Your Jalwa' for the 'dhak dhak' girl.
Sadly, the film turned out to be hardly anything but 'jalwa' as it was an extremely average fare. And what happened to Aaja Nachle was the same as it happens to most hyped films which are nowhere near being a 'jalwa'. Aaja Nachle failed at the box office and broke many hearts. The film wasn't atrocious but when names like Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra, Madhuri Dixit and Jaideep Sahni come together, nothing less than extraordinary is acceptable.
The film had it's biggest problem lying in what could well have been thought as a strength by the makers - it's over simplicity. The film just didn't have a conflict. No, it wasn't about a conflict being built up which could have been resolved easily. Probably even that could have been understandable. The issue here was different as there was no conflict whatsoever from beginning till the end.
For Madhuri Dixit, who had to get people of her hometown to come together and present a show in a downtrodden amphitheater in order to help it survive the land sharks, there were no major challenges that were posed. And the ones which were posed too were so easily overcome that one wished if real life was as simple too!
So what 'really' worked for the film? a) Madhuri Dixit's performance (flawless) and b) Every scene, yes every scene, which featured Akshaye Khanna with Madhuri. Let's talk about Madhuri first. Clichéd as it may sound but she is the sole reason, which makes Aaja Nachle watchable. It's not only the nostalgic element, it is in fact sheer effortlessness with which she carries herself in front of the camera that makes audience look in awe. A perfect example of how a lady should act!
Akshaye Khanna. Now how can this actor continue to deliver one tremendous performance after another but still not have one big success to his name that could establish him as one of the front-runners in the top league. On one end, the industry is whining and crying that there are no actors available till 2010 while on the other we let go of an actor like Akshaye Khanna so easily! Just watch out for those 4-5 scenes he shares with Madhuri. Even a hardcore Madhuri fan would agree that all eyes are reserved only for Akshaye as he displays that ever-so-famous naughty streak of his!
PACKAGING
DVD of Aaja Nachle has an eye catchy design and layout with a classy appeal to it. The box is made of a mix of paper and plastic packaging.
DURATION
The film comes in a twin DVD pack with the film's duration being 147 minutes. The second DVD has special features lasting close to 120 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- The Making Of The Film
- Laila Majnu Full Version
- Making of Laila Majnu
- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- Theatrical Trailor & Promos
- Aaja Nachle Musical Night - MTV
- Director's Profile
- Cast & Crew Credits
- Photo Gallery - a) Posters b) Movie Stills
Highlight of 'Special Features' in the DVD is close to one hour coverage which is provided to the much talked about 'Laila Majnu' sequence. Not just the viewer gets to watch the full 26 minutes version of 'Laila Majnu', which arrived in the climax, there is also an elaborate 25 minutes segment which takes a viewer through the making of this sequence. 'Laila Majnu', which formed the film's climax, had met through some extreme reactions when the film was screened. However, on repeated viewing on home video, there are finer aspects involved with the thought, concept, and execution of 'Laila Majnu' that does manage to hold your attention.
'Making of 'Laila Majnu' turns out to be an engaging watch too. Behind the scenes happenings involving Madhuri Dixit singing her portions in the recording studio, lyricist Piyush Mishra explaining the depth of the words, Salim & Sulaiman helping the singers get the right pitch and above all choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant guiding each of the major players in 'Laila Majnu' on how to get the right steps and expressions makes one genuinely feel for the effort that went into the making of the film.
In fact one sees a lot of Vaibhavi in 'The Making Of The Film' segment too (which lasts 22 minutes) as the film is centered on dance and Vaibhavi was the chief contributor to majority of frames of the film. The segment has been well shot and edited as instead of boring clichéd interviews, one actually traverses to the sets where the film was shot. It is always engaging to be witness to how a shot was being canned with the sound of 'action' and 'cut' and there is a lot of it to be seen during the making of the film.
Also funny are 6 minutes of out takes where actors are shown to be goofing up in front of the camera. Madhuri's child like mannerisms whenever she gave a bad shot is worth giggling at. In addition, there is a 24 minutes segment around 'Aaja Nachle Musical Night', which was held at Delhi. A video recording of the songs choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant and performed live by her troupe is the highlight here.
There are 20 minutes of deleted scenes as well though the ones, which impress most, are those, which feature Akshaye Khanna or Ranvir Shorey. There was an interesting dinner table sequence between Akshaye and Madhuri, which was chopped. Surprising, since it involved Akshaye proposing Madhuri. Also, Ranvir may have really been flabbergasted on watching Aaja Nachle at theaters since most of the scenes that he had shot are relegated to 'deleted scenes'. Those who felt that Ranvir's character in Aaja Nachle was half baked have to check out the deleted scenes since the emotional side of him is brought out well in number of sequences. Watch out for the scene where he confesses to Madhuri that he was still willing to get her back into his life!
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen format
- Optional Subtitles in 7 Languages- International: English / Arabic / Spanish / Dutch / Portuguese, Indian: Tamil / Malayalam
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
- Digitally Re-mastered From The Original Film
PRICE
Rs. 399
CONCLUSION
Aaja Nachle is a film which is strictly for home viewing. It's not a film, which mandates a definite watch though. Watch it only if a) you have been dying to see Madhuri Dixit act again or b) you have loved 'Laila Majnu' sequence or c) you have absolutely nothing else to do on a lazy night.
Rating: **
