Film Review: ‘Let’s Dance’ launches dance genre again in Bollywood

Film: “Let’s Dance”; Cast: Gayatri Patel, Ajai Chowdhary, Aquib Afzal, Abhaas Yadav, Anjan Srivastava; Director: Aarif Sheikh; Rating: **.

When “Let’s Dance” arrived at the theatres, it raised curiosity as unlike in Hollywood not many films with dance as the central themes are made in Bollywood. “Aaja Nachle” with Madhuri Dixit in the lead role or Antara Mali’s “Naach” had dance as the central theme, but the Hindi film industry still has a long way to go before it comes up with a quintessential dance drama on the lines of “Shall We Dance” or “Dirty Dancing”.

Not that Bollywood isn’t capable of coming up with one such film. After all not so long back there were movies like “Taal” and “Dil To Paagal Hai” that had their roots in dancing. However, in the current times, one can’t remember a single film belonging to the dance genre clicking at the box office.

This is why “Let’s Dance” makes you look forward to what it has to offer. Of course, the minimal publicity and lack of known names makes you a little apprehensive about what the film has to offer. Nevertheless, you may give it one chance as the film tries to explore a genre that has been hitherto unexplored.

The end result is a mixed affair. If you are looking for an out and out Bollywood entertainer then “Let’s Dance” doesn’t quite make a cut. However, if your sole purpose of watching “Let’s Dance” is to see how a movie belonging to the dance genre is presented on the big screen then this Aarif Sheikh-directed film has quite a lot to offer.

And why not? After all the film at least sticks to it’s subject. We have a young woman Gayatri Patel who knows that she can be a choreographer and make a difference to the world of dancing. She comes up with just the right moves and the film is pretty much a show reel of her dancing talent.

Like last week’s “Kal Kissne Dekha” that aimed at launching a new kid Jackky Bhagnani who showed his prowess as a dancer, “Let’s Dance” too follows the same route.

We have Gayatri dancing at all moments depending on her mood and the situation. She lights up the screen every time the music plays and one is hooked on to her dancing steps that are quite fresh and extremely engaging. Also, she is not just a dancer because even as an actor she makes a good debut.

However, if one moves away from the dance and the music aspect of the film, “Let’s Dance” is pretty much predictable from the storyline perspective. “Win of an underdog” is an underlining theme of the film and that is carried forward throughout the film’s narrative, even as Gayatri brings together a bunch of kids for the ultimate dancing challenge.

To be fair to the film, there are moments when drama does build up in the narrative, especially the one where Gayatri is faced with an indecent proposal. However, apart from such isolated scenes, “Let’s Dance” perks up only when the music blazes on.

While “Let’s Dance” mainly hinges on Gayatri Patel’s character, there is also a good man Ajay Choudhary and a not-so-good man Aquib Afzal who try to make their presence felt.

For a film which primarily stars newcomers, one has to admit that Gayatri’s father Arvind Patel - who is also the producer of the film - has ensured that production values of “Let’s Dance” are decent. The frames boast of a lavish appeal while the song picturisation and choreography are upmarket as well.

However, one wonders why the promotion of this film was low key considering the fact that it comes at a time when there is at least one big film releasing every week.