2007 film by Anil Mehta
Aaja Nachle (transl. Come, let's dance) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by Anil Mehta in his directorial debut, and produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The film stars Madhuri Dixit in her first acting role since Devdas (2002), alongside Konkona Sen Sharma, Jugal Hansraj, Kunal Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Divya Dutta, Ranvir Shorey, and Vinay Pathak in supporting roles. The narrative centers on Dia, a choreographer who returns from the United States to her hometown of Shamli, where she attempts to save a dilapidated theater from demolition by staging a large-scale musical production with the help of the local community.
The film marked Dixit’s comeback to Hindi cinema after a five-year hiatus and was promoted as a celebration of dance and the performing arts. Principal photography took place in Mumbai and the town of Wai, with choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant and cinematography by K. U. Mohanan. The music was composed by Salim–Sulaiman, with lyrics by Jaideep Sahni and Piyush Mishra.
Aaja Nachle was released theatrically in India and the United States on 30 November 2007. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Dixit’s performance and the film’s dance sequences, but criticized its screenplay and predictable plot. The film underperformed at the box office and was declared a commercial failure by Box Office India.
At the 53rd Filmfare Awards, Aaja Nachle received two nominations: Best Actress (Dixit) and Best Female Playback Singer (Sunidhi Chauhan for "Aaja Nachle").
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.