That's really odd. For me, the Yash Raj pics have always had the best directional sound. TA RA RUM PUM sounded fabulous. It's true that the dialogue levels are lower but that aspect is because of the natural mic-ed and not redubbed audio. Which is what you want anyway b/c it is more natural.

Where I watched (Silvercity DD theatre), audio was very dynamic and had plenty of bass. Even some songs had some surround component. Theater sound was much better than listening to CD in my car stereo.
When a film is presented in backup audio, like in AMC theaters or non DD, DTS theatrical sound, it's CD in my car stereo that sounds better.

You got it! I look forward to possible DTS on this dvd to make up for my abysmal theatric view courtesy yrf/Naz cinema CHORS!CROOKS! I am always happy when their film FLOPS!

Arsh bhai which location of Naz did you watch the film at?

I saw MF Hussain last night (we'll at least it looked like him). I was at the Cineworld in the Trocadero in London after seeing Richard Kelly's piece of crap film Southland Tales! When I was leaving I passed an old man with white hair and beard who looked just like MF Hussain. It looks like he was going in to see Madhuri's "Aaja Nachle" which was starting around that time. Any idea if MF Hussain is even in London, because this guy looked alot like him and I'm not exaggerating.

By the way, Madhuri and co have managed to package this film well for international audiences, because I've noticed alot of westerners are going to see it. It could be because it's promoted as a "dance film". The last time I've seen so many westerners in a bollywood film was Omkara.

CENTURY BERRYESSA SAN JOSE!

RK Film Week Weekly Gross Total Gross
1 Aaja Nachle 1 4,71,17,907 4,71,17,907
2 Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal 2 4,11,55,673 14,43,23,944
3 Om Shanti Om 4 1,90,80,021 33,81,37,016
4 Jab We Met 6 60,35,164 12,77,27,403
5 Saawariya 4 5,29,817 11,42,23,117

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By Taran Adarsh, December 8, 2007


(Note: Figures are as per the reported centres)

Aaja Nachle - Week 1
# Mumbai - 1,91,42,490 (4 F.H. Incl. Thane)
# Ahmedabad - 43,90,528
# Himmatnagar - 1,08,544
# Gandhinagar - 64,865
# Baroda - 6,77,974
# Bharuch - 1,65,380
# Bhavnagar - 2,47,150
# Pune - 7,43,170
# Goa - 86,063
# Nasik - 4,66,169
# Delhi - 1,06,13,710
# Noida - 11,57,352
# Kaushambi - 2,31,037
# Gurgaon - 12,74,862
# Ghaziabad - 94,496
# Aligarh - 2,31,717
# Agra - 1,20,500
# Bareilly - 1,12,756
# Faridabad - 5,50,932
# Lucknow - 99,344
# Nagpur - 6,75,568
# Raipur - 4,88,838
# Indore - 2,69,706
# Jaipur - 6,70,895
# Sehore - 1,17,060
# Kolkatta - 26,54,991
# Dehradun - 2,25,607
# Guwahati - 1,42,023
# Darjeeling - 49,421
# Aurangabad - 2,44,982
# Bangalore - 6,48,518
# Chennai - 3,51,259
(Average per print: 3,23,727)
Total collections for Week 1: 4,71,17,907
Total Collections (Till Date): 4,71,17,907

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print % change since last week
Week 1 4,71,17,907 3,23,727 NA
Total Gross 4,71,17,907

More so seems HOLDING GROUND in UK! where almost every thing HOLDS GROUND

Like JWM, this one has a very good lift-off. But it literally FALLS APART during the last 30 minutes.

Spoiler Alert:
The final play is a wretched BORE, with Madhuri flitting in and out as a Mother Nature/ Narrator type in the scenes. All the grey characters suddenly turn good, and the sermons are endless. Crap! The shots of the audience crying during the inane scenes was the super-worst. As I suspected the central theme of saving a theatre just did not have enough dramatic intensity for me.
Surprisingly, the first 1 1/2 hours though, was very fun. Light-hearted screenplay, great music and dialogues. Wish Mehta could have kept that tone through out. And made the play a musical comedy.
Loved Konkona though. Good to have Madhuri back, though I doubt it will be long with this flick bombing. And she needs to stick to looks like her appealing title track. Jeans and cheap wigs don't suit her.
Disagree with folks who say the soundtrack was no good. Yes, the mishmash in the final play stank cuz frankly the play stank. But the title tune, Ajaa Nachle, O Re Piya and Show Me Your Jalwa were EXCELLENT.

6.5/10.

Thanks for your input! So you did finally see it!

Variety review:

Aaja nachle
(India)
By DEREK ELLEYA Yash Raj Films release and production. Produced by Aditya Chopra. Executive producer, Aashish Singh. Directed by Anil Mehta. Associate director, Maneesh Sharma. Screenplay, Jaideep Sahni; story, Aditya Chopra.

With: Madhuri Dixit, Konkona Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Yashpal Sharma, Akhilendra Mishra, Jugal Hansraj, Sushmita Mukherjee, Akshaye Khanna, Irrfan Khan, Uttara Baokar, Vinod Nagpal, Asha Sachdev, Darshan Jariwala, Raghuveer Yadav, Felix D'Alviella, Nowaz, Dalai.
(Hindi dialogue)

As a comeback vehicle for onetime Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit, "Aaja nachle" is only so-so fare, but as an undemanding slice of masala entertainment, it's more than worthy of the Yash Raj quality stamp. Uncomplicated putting-on-a-show yarn, centered on a non-resident Indian dancer who returns to her village to save a disused theater, is in the grand tradition of classic Hollywood tuners with a Bollywood twist. Despite carping reviews by Indian crix, pic has racked up solid local biz since its Nov. 30 opening, plus a warm $1 million in the U.K. Pic tanked Stateside, however.
Dixit, whose hottest period was from the late '80s to mid-'90s, is best known to Western auds as high-class courtesan Chandramukhi in the 2002 version of "Devdas." Officially retired for the past five years, the classy 42-year-old beauty still shows screen smarts but is ill-served by a lightweight script that makes her more a celebrity guest star than a central protagonist.

Brief Stateside opening, with a punchy number in her Gotham dance studio, has Dia (Dixit) peremptorily summoned back to India when she learns her veteran teacher, Makarand (Darshan Jariwala), is dying. With her tween daughter Radha (Dalai) in tow, Dia arrives in Shamli too late, though a filmed message from Makarand urges her to save the Greek-style, open-air theater known as Ajanta from being torn down to make way for a shopping mall.

Flashback limns how Dia ankled Shamli 11 years earlier after falling for an American photog (Felix D'Alviella), who fathered Radha but whom she later divorced. Though Dia is welcomed by Ajanta's aged caretaker, Doctor (Raghubir Yadav), the rest of the town has mixed feelings about her return, not least its businesslike mayor, Raja Singh (matinee idol Akshaye Khanna, guesting).

Some of Dixit's best scenes are opposite Khanna, with the two experienced thesps sparking off each other; more of this relationship could have given Dia's role an emotional heft it lacks. Singh finally gives Dia two months to put on a show and prove Ajanta still has a place in the town's life before hard-nosed developer Haru Farooq (Irrfan Khan) moves in.

Relatively light on hurdles and twists, pic gains its flavor from the ensemble of raggedy performers Dia recruits to put on her song-and-dance show. As a klutzy, determined wannabe, Konkona Sen (billed here without her third moniker, Sharma) almost steals the movie as a snub-nosed tomboy who falls for her macho leading man (Kunal Kapoor). She's well supported by other subsidiary players, including Yadav and Vinay Pathak as a boring government official.

Dixit's main problem is that, immaculately coiffed and garbed, and shot in delicate soft focus, she often seems divorced from the film going on around her. "Aaja nachle" seems not so much a comeback as a one-off special appearance.

Score by Salim-Sulaiman is OK without being memorable, but delivers in the actual show that forms the finale. Twenty-minute setpiece, based on a traditional Indian love story, is staged in classic, lavish MGM style without any regard to the physical limitations of the theater in which it takes place. Vaibhavi Merchant's choreography also springs to life here.

Other tech credits are solidly pro. Hindi title translates as "Come Dance."

Camera (color, widescreen), Mohanan; editor, Ritesh Soni; music, Salim-Sulaiman; production designer, Sukant Panigrahy; costume designers, Manish Malhotra, Mandira Shukla, Dolly Ahluwalia; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital), Indrajit Neogi, Ali Merchant; visual effects supervisor, Vishal Annand; choreographer, Vaibhavi Merchant; action director, Sham Kaushal. Reviewed at Cineworld Feltham 10, London, Dec. 28, 2007. Running time: 142 MIN. (I: 73 MIN.; II: 69 MIN.)

Finally saw this - Excellent film ... good homage to the theatre ... the Laila Majnu play was excellent and captured the correct essence of the Laila Majnu story.

I'm quitting reading reviews for a while as they keep on putting me off trips to the cinema. This would have been one to watch in the cinema but the DVD is pretty good so am making do with that.

feelings are mutual here It was simple, feel good, family oriented film, sans heavy mellow drama, heavy opulence, vulgarity, and have been our family favorite last year! Madhuri was an added bonus!

hopefully there will be a dts dvd to come laterz