Aja Nachle

You'd have to be living on the moon if you hadn't heard the hype for this flick before its release. The return of the Queen of Bollywood - Madhuri Dixit. The expectations for the film were huge so when it flopped at the box office I wasn't too surprised. I read a fair few reviews on the internet and the genreal consensus was that the film was a dud which made me avoid watching it even more.

Unfortuantely one day I found myself at a loose end and found myself watching it. The scariest thing was I actually enjoyed it! If you forget the hype, leave your expectations behind and ignore a few flaws you will go away entertained!

The story in a nutshell is of Dia played by Madhuri. Ten years previously Dia fell in love with a charming American, ran away with him to the states only to be dumped after getting pregnant. Flash forward to the present and Dia is forced to return to her hometown after she recieves news that her guru (some dude who wears funny clothes) is about to die. So she rolls in to town with her young daughter to be met with hostility, the shame of her actions forced her parents to leave and left her with a tainted reputation. Her trip looks to be in vain as Guru croaks it, but luckily before he bites the dust he leaves her a video message. The town's theatre is threatened with closure by the local MP - Akshaye Khanna. So Madhuri and Akshaye lock horns resulting in a challenge. If madhuri can make a succesful theatre production with only local actors, then he will consider leaving the theatre, if not he'd allow it to be developed in to a shopping mall.

So with the help of an old friend, Dia manages to gather a rag tag bunch of villagers to star in her adaptation of Romeo and Julliet. Throw in a few twists and turns, a little bit of love between Romeo (Kunal Kappor - the local ghunda) and Julliet (Konkona Sen - the local nut job) and a blockbusting show and that's Aja Nachle in a nutshell for ya!

Madhuri still has the moves, even at the age of 60 she can shake her booty with the best of them. She makes the film and her charisma alone carries the film. Kunal Kapoor and Konkona do a decent job, though Konkona does look a bit minging for much of the film! Some of the bit part actors give the film a special touch, like the bespectacled landlord who dreams of exciting his wife and the local MP whose love for power is only second to his love for stardom.

If you forget the hype, have realsitic expactations and just watch with an open mind, then Aja Nachle will entertain you from start to finish. Just enjoy it for it's simplistic storyline, feel good factor and especially for Madhuri!

3.5 out of 5