Don’t be fooled by the title and expect a light-hearted breezy film about dance. Naach is anything but that. Essentially a love story, Naach is a small and intense film which aspires to break away from the norm and provide the viewer with more than the standard song and dance routine with a story somewhere within.

Abhi (Abhishek Bachchan) is an aspiring actor, making the rounds of studios only to be rejected time and time again. Reva (Antara Mali) seems to fall into the same boat except that she is an aspiring choreographer. Their paths cross and when is asked by a potential director whether he can dance, he turns to Reva to help him. Reva agrees to do this reluctantly, more for friendship than anything else. She believes in her craft, her individulality and will make no compromises when it comes to this. She will not be a choreographer simply for the sake of obtaining work. Her style if unique and she refuses to compromise.

Abhi learns from her and gets his big break, albeit a tad too easily. Seeing Rewa’s work with Abhi, the director offers Reva the chance to work on one of his songs but due to the ways of the industry, the director has to relinquish Reva because the leading lady only works with her own cronies, Shaheen Khan (an obvious reference to Saroj Khan). The crassness of her choreography drives home the point as to how the film industry functions. The way to infiltrate it, to move within it and achieve anything is through networking, favours and obviously, the casting couch. Reva encounters all these but will not compromise.

By now, Abhi is a major star and in love with Reva. Reva is approached by yet another film-maker who actually wants Abhi to star in his film and uses her choreography as bait. Rewa rejects this but when she tells Abhi of this, he agrees to meet the director. Abhi knows the the film industry as it is and is willing to help but Reva is unwilling to accept this. A clash of principles leads to the separation of the two lovers.

Abhi pines but is filled with anger and his own success. Reva on the other hand gets her chance with a music video which catapults her to immediate fame with her avant garde choreography with the help of her director Divakar (Ritesh Deshmukh). Abhi and Reva’s lives cross again, both successful but one having adapted to the ways of the industry and the other having climbed the ladder of fame on her own steam. With a new player in their midst, we now have a triangle of sorts.

Ram Gopal Verma’s films, good or bad, are always a delight to see for they aspire to veer away from the mainstream and whether the execution is successful or not, the director’s unique style always makes for interesting viewing. Whilst many will try to equate this to Rangeela, this is a very different film although stylistically, there are some parallels that can be drawn. The opening sequence is almost identical to “rangeela re” with Reva awakening from a dream. The extended and sometimes over exaggerated gyrations and contortions of Reva’s body smack of an overlingering desire to entice the ordinary man to salivate when in fact, our protagonist is quite simply an ordinary girl. Was it necessary to interject the film with so many such sequences? One of Verma’s weaknesses. Verma’s film is a love story which uses dance almost as a character in the film and not as a medium to express “love” the way it is done in Bollywood. Therefore, in some respects, we are trying to turn the genre on its head without breaking the norms. And whilst we are dealing with films and the film industry, Verma’s film is rooted in realism and meanders at a slow pace although never uninteresting. However, Naach is not without its faults. It concentrates too much on Mali’s body, and you feel that a greater depth could have been afforded at times. The climax is a little to convenient, the emotions a little too rushed, Deshmukh’s final speech almost jarring when subtlety had achieved its purpose through a very effective performance by Deshmukh.

Verma also breaks away from the pattern of the typical characters that are depicted by bollywood heroes and heroines. Ek Haseena thi broke with tradition and in Naach, Verma again breaks away from the traditional bollywood heroine. Here we have an ambitious, uncompromising and strong-willed individual, out to fight for herself and for her beliefs irrespective of her sex. This is not the archetypical woman as depicted in Bollywood cinema who, like the traditional Priya in Aitraaz reiterates traditional values and ultimately, is the perfect brand ambassador for “stand by your man” song. Antara Mali has done a few of these roles, her previous forays being Road and Main Madhuri Dixit banna chahti hoon. Antara Mali is very good in Naach, perfectly agile, not only in body but in performance as well. Mali does not have the immediate star like quality but is a gutsy performer who, as proved in Company, has the ability to deliver a fine performance. Abhishek Bachchan is now coming into his own and gives yet another controlled performance. Ritesh Deshmukh is a surprise element giving a restrained and effective portrayal as the director, also in love with Reva. Naach is let down, to an extent, by an inaccessible musical score which is mostly loud and uninteresting.

On the whole, Naach is a mature and an intense film, not without its faults but miles ahead of the mindless drivel that is churned out, week after week. Well worth a visit.