My primary reason for watching Naach was Ram Gopal Verma. I am a big admirer of his work. He is one of the most versatile directors of this country. I like most of his work. I say most because he did make some mediocre movies in the past. When the promos of Naach came out I thought it would turn out to be another of RGV’s mediocre movies. The songs that were aired were really a turnoff and the promos looked very similar to Rangeela.
But I thought I would give it a chance and went for the movie.
The movie starts with a song picturised on Antara. Oh my god Rangeela is getting repeated I thought. Then as the movie progressed, I came to realise it is actually a very decent movie.
Plot
The plot is simple and straightforward. Antara (Rewa in the movie) is a budding choreographer who believes that dance is a way of life. She sees dance not as a source of income or as a career but more as a art form wherein she would be able to express her ideas to the world. Her character is very similar to ’’Howard Roark’’ of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. Intransigent advocacy of individualism is where the similarity lies. And this is where she differs from the other protagonist of the movie Abhishek Bachhan (Abhi in the movie). Abhi is an aspiring actor who believes that money and fame are everything in life. Abhi in contrast to Rewa is materialistic.
Dance is what brings them come close to each other. In one of the most beautifully executed scene of the movie, Abhi proposes to Rewa. Rewa teaches Abhi the finer aspects of dancing which helps him to grab a lead role in a movie. Abhi goes on to become a big star while Rewa still struggles to get recognised. Abhi tries to help her based on his recommendation, for which Rewa refuses (another excellent scene). Abhi detests her views on individualism. He believes that it is one thing to preach individualism; it is another to apply it in real life. This is where both separate.
Rewa after much struggle gets an oppurtunity to display her talent thanks to Ritesh Deshmukh (DiwaKar in the movie), a music producer who is looking to try something different. They both create a music video which goes on to become a big hit. Diwakar starts admiring her as an artist as well as a person.
From here on the movie is all about how Abhi wins back Rewa and how he realises his mistake about his view on individualism.
Performances
Abhishek Bachhan is simply superb in the role of Abhi. The same is the case with Antara Mali. Both of them successfully portray the characters viewpoint with amazing ease.
other strong points
Photography by Kiran Reddy is surreal. Direction by RGV is excellent in few scenes.
The following scenes deserve special mention
a) Scene where Abhi and Rewa meet for the first time in a bus
b) Scene where ABhi proposes to Rewa
c) Scene where Abhi and Rewa part from each other
d) Climax
Weak Points
Music.
Naach is a musical. Dance and music are an integral part of the movie. It is expected that music of such a movie has to be outstanding. But in this case music acts as a spoiler to the proceedings. Two songs are average and the rest of them are plain mediocre.
Costumes
Costumes in this movie are outrageous and bizarre.
Certain Scenes
There are some scenes in the movie which are excellent and there are some which are very ordinary. Especially the scenes where RGV tries to mock the Hindi film industry and it’s way of functioning. They look very cliched.
Conclusion
Naach is a very good attempt at realistic cinema. But it is not a pathbreaker or anything of that sort. The movie is very good but in parts. If I have to rate the movie as a whole, I would rate it Above Average.
Thanks
Prasad
P.S: This is my first review on MS. Any comments, suggestions, criticisms are most welcome.