Naach (2004)
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Antara Mali, Ritesh Deshmukh
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Music Director: Nitin Raikar
Synopsis: Another film that spurns Bollywood formula from RGV - well worth a look
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

Don't be misled by the title into expecting a light-hearted, breezy film about dance. Naach is anything but. At heart it is an intense love story, a small, personal film that attempts to break away from Bollywood convention by offering something more substantial than the usual song-and-dance spectacle with a token plot attached.

Abhi (Abhishek Bachchan) is an aspiring actor who endlessly trudges from one film studio to another, only to be rejected time and again. Reva (Antara Mali) is in much the same position, except that she dreams of becoming a choreographer. Their paths cross when Abhi is asked by a prospective director whether he can dance. Unable to do so, he turns to Reva for help.

She reluctantly agrees, more out of friendship than anything else.

Reva believes passionately in her craft and, above all, in her individuality. She refuses to compromise her artistic vision simply to obtain work. If she is to succeed, it will be on her own terms.

Abhi learns from her and, rather conveniently, lands his first major break. Impressed by Reva's choreography, the director offers her the opportunity to stage one of his songs. Reality, however, quickly intervenes. The film's leading lady insists on using her own trusted choreographer—Shaheen Khan, an unmistakable reference to Saroj Khan—and Reva is unceremoniously dropped. The film industry is shown as one driven by networking, favours and, by implication, the casting couch. Reva encounters every obstacle imaginable but steadfastly refuses to compromise.

By now Abhi has become a major star and has fallen in love with Reva. Another director approaches her, though his real motive is to secure Abhi for his next film by using Reva's choreography as bait. Reva rejects the proposal outright, but when she tells Abhi, he is willing to meet the filmmaker. Abhi understands how the industry functions and believes there is no shame in helping matters along. Reva sees it as surrendering her principles.

The clash proves irreconcilable and the lovers part company.

Abhi throws himself into stardom while wrestling with his anger and loneliness. Reva, meanwhile, finally receives her opportunity through a music video that catapults her to success with its bold, avant-garde choreography under director Divakar (Riteish Deshmukh). Their lives inevitably intersect once more, both now successful but having reached that success by very different paths. The arrival of Divakar also introduces a subtle love triangle into the proceedings.

Ram Gopal Varma's films, whether successful or otherwise, are almost always fascinating because they strive to move away from the mainstream. Even when they falter, they possess a distinctive voice that makes them worth watching. Many will inevitably compare Naach with Rangeela, but beyond a handful of stylistic similarities, they are very different films.

The opening sequence, with Reva awakening from a dream, recalls Rangeela Re, and Varma once again displays his fondness for lingering over his heroine's body. The extended dance sequences, with their exaggerated movements and sensual camerawork, often feel designed more to provoke the audience than to illuminate the character. Considering that Reva is portrayed as an ordinary young woman, one wonders whether so many of these sequences were really necessary. It remains one of Varma's recurring weaknesses.

Where Naach succeeds is in making dance itself a central character rather than simply using songs as expressions of romantic love. In many ways, Varma turns Bollywood convention on its head while still operating within its framework. Although set against the backdrop of the film industry, Naach remains grounded in a surprising degree of realism and unfolds at an unhurried pace that rarely becomes dull.

It is not without flaws. Varma becomes overly preoccupied with Antara Mali's physicality at the expense of exploring her emotional life more deeply. The climax also arrives rather too conveniently, with emotions compressed into too short a space of time. Riteish Deshmukh's final speech, in particular, feels unnecessarily explicit when his restrained performance had already conveyed everything that needed saying.

Varma also deserves credit for once again rejecting Bollywood's traditional character archetypes. Just as Ek Hasina Thi challenged convention, Naach presents a heroine who is ambitious, fiercely independent and utterly unwilling to sacrifice her principles for success or romance. This is a welcome departure from the conventional Bollywood heroine—the sort embodied by Priya in Aitraaz—whose ultimate purpose is often little more than to uphold traditional values and stand dutifully beside her man.

Antara Mali has made a career out of playing unconventional women, from Road to Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, and she is excellent here. She may not possess immediate star charisma, but she is a fearless performer with remarkable physical expressiveness and, as Company previously demonstrated, genuine acting ability.

Abhishek Bachchan continues his steady growth as an actor, delivering another controlled and understated performance. Riteish Deshmukh is something of a revelation, giving a mature, restrained portrayal as the filmmaker quietly in love with Reva.

The one significant disappointment is the soundtrack. While appropriate to the film's mood, it is largely inaccessible, often loud and ultimately rather forgettable.

On the whole, Naach is a mature, thoughtful and unusually intense film. It certainly has its imperfections, but it remains miles ahead of the mindless drivel that passes for mainstream entertainment week after week.

Well worth seeking out.