30 Days of Film Meme - Day 3.

3. A movie that makes you really happy

Honestly, this is a big category of films altogether, but when I thought about this and glanced at my DVD collection, the DVD case for Aaja Naachle just kind of jumped out at me. It's perfect feel-good entertainment, though not precisely the kind that's carrying a particularly thoughtful message. I think it exemplifies a genre of film where everybody ends up happy - those who you root for to get together, get together, the heroes emerge victorious, the villain learns a lesson and stops being such a big meanie. Yes, it's candy-fluff but sometimes, that's really all you require out of a film.

Bonus: vibrant older female lead, fun songs, great ensemble cast. Aaja Naachle just kind of has it all.

Redefining villain with baby bunnies. Akshaye in Aaja Naachle.

So.

Aaja Naachle only really begins 27 minutes into the movie, when Diya (Madhuri Dixit) goes visit a local politician Uday (usually referred to by his title Raja) about the local theater Ajanta, which he plans to tear down and turn into a mall. Raja offers her pizza he made himself. He likes pizza. She brings up the plans to tear down Ajanta. She asks him not to. He says he will despite.

But not before he offers her pizza.

You evil son of a bitch.

Eventually they make a pact - if she can revive the village's theater life with local talent, the mall deal is off.

Look at this heartless, animal of a man. All that pizza-making and flirtation only covers up his true nature, that of a villain who makes heroines dance on broken glass and shoots henchmen for the heck of it.

Except .. no, wait. Akshaye Khanna's villainous Raja is the fluffiest, cutest villain you will ever meet. Put him next to a sharpei puppy and you'd still be going, "That sharpei puppy is up to no good."

Villain's Log, Day 47: "I made pizza and a cute lady talked to me. Yay!"

And then he watches her perform and likes it and just grins to himself like he's just crushing on her hardcore (which he obviously is, in his own cutesy smug manner). These is not even a pinch of ruthlessness in this man's body.

And then he's just super-cute with the daughter. Is this supposed to be menacing? "I'm the bad guy", followed by a smug but adorable smile. What are we to think?

Oh the venomous exchange of words! Except he naturally takes it as an opportunity to flirt and make puppy eyes at her whilst pretending to actually have some debate about the Ajanta issue. Diya takes it more seriously, providing more fuel to the fire of dramatic tension because, well, somebody has to!

She delivers a healthy dose of "oh snap!" and he's all, "Hee, I like this lady."

This pattern repeats itself.

"Oh, what am I doing here? I just bought these new Ray-Ban's and wanted to show off them and my awesome swagger. Did you know they gave me an ominous background score for these scenes?"

"I am so evil! And adorable. And hot. Do you like ice cream? I like ice cream."

"But not as much as I like kittens fighting. Or you. Whoops, what am I saying? Oh that's right, I'm the bad guy. Grr. Evil things! Fire and brimstone, murky polluted rain ..and then rainbows! Pots of gold! ..Dammit."

"You're a better villain than me, Irfan. That's why I like playing golf with you. Do you like pizza?"

"Oh, you want to sabotage the play due to business profits? Well, that's not cool. Don't you know fairies die whenever you stop believing in the goodness of mankind? Think about it for a minute."

Villain's Log, Day 82: "Got awesome seats at the theater today because I'm an MP. Yay!"

"PS. Really enjoyed the play. 5/5!"

Sadly Diya is leaving to return to the US. Our heroine won! What does our villain do? Curse and retreat back to his lair, possibly kidnapping her daughter as he does so? Not at all. Instead he's like, "Oh, what a shame. Well, I'll give you a call sometime."

And then we have our Starbucks ending. Who knows what the future will bring.. But what we do know is that our terrible villain has left behind the days of evil schemes and all that.

What a relief!

And some bonus cute Khanna!face for you --

Serious Business.

File this one in the dictionary, as definition for awesome!face.

"God willing I'll make more guest appearances this worth watching."

...If only , Akshaye, if only.

Aaja Naachle - fluff at its most glorious.

In my understanding Aaja Naachle (2007) did not do great in the box office. People found the story cliché and shoddy in execution. Just as well. While it doesn't bring much to the table in terms of substance, I can't begrudge the movie, it just delivers entertainment of the glossy, vibrant and fluffy variety.

The fact is, the film only really begins around 30 minutes in. The preamble of Diya (Madhuri Dixit) dancing at a New York studio, moving like it's Dil To Pagal Hai, then finding out her guru is dead, then the backstory of her meeting an American guy (clearly from the male model school of non-acting) and moving to his country to the shame of her family.. All of this is pretty much boring and clichéd to the absolute max. Diya's kid is annoying and she clearly hasn't taught two things about her past to her own child (wtf?!) and the fact her divorce to Mr Americano was almost as soon as her plane landed in the US is bizarrely simplistic (apart from you know, white guy, foreigner, bad, bad, grr!).

Enter this guy, who is the villain in the loosest possible meaning of the word. And I assure you, this isn't just my blatant Akshaye fangirlism speaking, because the fact is, without dramatic tension there is no movie, and his character is the one who brings some to this incredibly fluffy piece. He wants to tear down the unused theater and Diya isn't keen of the fact, and so they make a deal - if she can put on a show full of locals to revive the culture scene of her village, he won't tear down the amphitheater. (More about this guy during Khanna Week in May - for now this paragraph will suffice.)

And here's where Aaja Naachle finally kickstarts, as Diya begins seeking out local talent, which is why we get a cavalcade of awesome side characters, all with their fluffy little existences, coming together for some musical magic.

Ranvir Shorey is Diya's left-behind former fiancee, still tragically in love with her.

Vinay Pathak as a civil servant wanting to impress his theater-loving wife.

Divya Dutta as Diya's former best friend and Irffan Khan as her businessminded husband (and "villain" number two).

Konkona Sen Sharma as the adorable tomboy fiercely crushing Kunal Kapoor's boy-next-door/goonda (but goonda only in the fluffiest manner).

And it's really just so entertaining and fluffy and glossy and fun, that the flaws of the beginning mysteriously begin to melt away.

What with all the colours and the fun and the dancing..

Oh the glorious dancing!

Could they have made a better movie out of this? Sure. There's a lot of untapped potential here for substance, perhaps kind of sadly so. The way Akshaye's character questions Diya's status as a current NRI coming to "save" a bit of India and damaging what he sees as progress while doing it is countered by her questioning his own foreign education (she was educated in India) being used to also "fix" India as he sees fit. But this angle of the story isn't explored beyond the initial touch.

The way Konkona's tomboy transforms into a beautiful young woman could've emphasized how changing how she dresses doesn't change who she is, and who he, in the end, is falling in love with.

But you know, minor quips. Focus on the fun, and there's plenty of it here.

Fun times, gorgeous Madhuri.

It's like, why bother hating?

You want colour, fun and warm fuzzies? Watch Aaja Naachle. You want something heavy and thought-provoking? Read a book.

Just telling it like it is..

SWSFDFASRICEBDJFT - or random youtube goodness.

The title above is not ridiculous keymash, but rather me trying to accurately describe the following list. The acronym is, as goes, "Songs with a single female dancer focus that are so rewatchable I could easily buy the DVD just for them". And even with that monster of a statement, I'm not sure it accurately portrays the list are some films on it are so good, you would not be buying the DVD just for one dance number and some dance numbers, on the other hand, are not amazing but simply very beloved personal favourites for whatever reason.

But hey, forget about the title and just enjoy these.

Aaja Naachle - from Aaja Naachle



I watched this film with low expectations and while it's certainly not fantastic cinema and has an annoying tendency to side-step conviniently any actual points the story could be saying about art, national identity, progress, or anything for that matter, it's an entertaining enough film. It's okay to be fluffy but the movie is fluffy and full of plotholes to the point of ..absolute pointlessness, and that's kind of sad. Regardless, there is Madhuri Dixit, who while not a favourite of mine, is still an awesome dancer and a gorgeous woman. I will eventually get the DVD for the songs, and some of the cutesy side-characters, and this title song number is just pure Bollywood fanservice: Madhuri, dancing in glorious, unrealistically stunning sets. Plus the song is fantastically catchy.

Sharafat chod di maine - from Sharafat



As I said in my write-up of the movie, it's not a very memorable film aside from Hema Malini's glorious dancing. In this number, the lyrics talk about "leaving behind decency" and the mood is full of angst, as can be witnessed on Dharmendra's pained expression. It tugs at my heart while being a great dance number. I just love it, and have rewatched all songs on the movie so many times.


Pyaar kiya to darna kya - from Mughal-e-Azam



The great thing about being a newbie is bumping into movies and watching them completely without an idea of their history. Mughal-e-Azam was one such film for me. My first oldie, among my first Bollywood DVD purchases, and all I knew was what it said on the cover - 'an eternal classic', apparently. To this day I've never rewatched this epic all the way through, but the song numbers I do keep returning to. Madhubala might never be best known as a great dancer, but certainly "Pyaar kiya to darna kya" will remain a classic number. The opulent sets, the defiant meaning of the lyrics, Madhubala's perfect expressions, the anger of Prithviraj Kapoor's face and the love on Dilip Kumar's. Sigh.

Jhooth naina bole - from Lekin



I know I'm a completely biased Hema Malini fangirl but this is the best dance number I think she's ever done. The Gulzar film is from early 90's, and her role is very limited, mostly composed of this dance number but what a performance it is. Everything about her movements, expressions and presence speaks of maturity and talent as a trained dancer. Sometimes I wish she'd gotten more opportunities to perform like this on-screen. I can watch this a million times and the only thing I get sick of is Lata Mangeshkar's voice. Hema-ji, though? Incredible.

Namak - from Omkara



As I've said before, this Vishal Bharadwaj film is pretty much all around excellent. For whatever reason, "Namak ishk ka" is my favourite picturization in the movie. Bipasha Basu is not an incredible dancer, but something about the earthy tones of the shots and the melodies of the song just make it so fun to rewatch. It's an item number, sure, but it has just the right kind of naughtiness - suggestive but not sleazily so.

Marainthirunthu paarkum - from Thillana Mohambal



A Bharatanatyam dance performed by one of the most legendary dancers to grace the Tamil film screens, Padmini, with another legend, Sivaji Ganesan hiding in the audience. I'm not an expert on BN so I wouldn't know exactly how good Padmini is at her art, but she certainly seems famous enough for it. This movie really introduced me to the classical music and dance traditions of Tamil Nadu, and for that, this number is really special. It might be a slightly filmified version of the classical dance style but nevertheless, it's lovely to watch.