Aaja Nachle: an Unappreciated Gem

Aaja Nachle, presenting the comeback of the Queen of Bollywood, Madhuri Dixit, was released in December 2007. Sadly it didn't do well at the box office. Personally I don't understand why it failed. It's a brilliant movie with fabulous acting by Madhuri, Konkona Sen Sharma , Kunal Kapoor and Ranvir Shorey. Even Akshaye Khanna, Divya Dutta and Irrfan Khan were great in their tiny, but important roles, as were the rest of the cast.

I recently watched it again on DVD, for probably the 5th time. Every time I watch it, I keep shaking my head and wondering why it was not appreciated. It makes me upset with the Bollywood media and the Box Office, which these days control the outcome of a movie. By putting up their own biased reviews right after the premiere of a movie, they can make or break the fate of a movie. It's a shame that people allow the corrupted media to influence them in this way. Have a backbone and form your own opinion! Don't read the reviews and let that be the deciding factor to watch a movie or not.

I just don’t understand how people did not appreciate the message of courage and faith that this movie projects. It’s a very inspiring movie, telling a story of a choreographer who had no idea how she would save the Dance school, Ajanta, from destruction. She grew up taking dance classes in that school, but after a “scandalous” affair with an American and eloping with him, she moved away to the USA where she started her own Dance school. However, when her old and dying dance teacher contacted her to ask for her help to save Ajanta, she didn’t hesitate one minute to go back to India... even if that meant facing the taunts of the villagers, especially since her marriage to the foreigner didn’t even last very long, leaving her with a daughter.

She had to face many hurdles, but she never lost faith that eventually the people from that village would come around and realize that Ajanta was an important part of this village, of their culture, and that destroying it (to have a mall built in its place), would mean the loss of an institute that inspired the youth of the village to learn the art of dancing; a theater the village needed to come together for a night out to appreciate this art presented through performances. If this theater would be destroyed, then the art would be lost too. And Dia (Madhuri) was not going to let that happen.

The way she kept going without letting anything discourage her, is what makes this movie a must watch. Too bad that the majority of the audience didn't recognize the genius of this movie. I especially enjoyed the Laila-Majnu play in the end. I cannot understand why Vaibhavi Merchant didn’t receive an award for the choreography. It’s a real shame!

It seems that the Indian audience still craves nonsensical movies (so-called massala movies) that hardly have any good message to convey, such as Om Shanti Om (just because it's an SRK movie, doesn't mean it's a good movie). Hopefully the day will come soon that they will finally start appreciating gems like Aaja Nachle. In the meantime I'm looking forward to the revolt of the people who will finally decide not to be brainwashed by the media any longer.