Dance and music are the heart and soul of Bollywood films. In fact, we have several movies made right from the 80s based on dance theme.
Dance movies most of the times manage to entertain us, in spite a weak script or even unfamiliar actors. Well, they are dance films, expecting an excelling plot could be acting like a demanding girlfriend who is not satisfied with one gift.
Let’s take an example of the ABCD series. ABCD – Any Body Can Dance had released in 2014. The film had the likes of Prabhu Deva and Ganesh Acharya, besides a host of Dance India Dance participants (Dharmesh Yelande, Salman Yusuff Khan, et al), in the cast. The film was India’s 1st-ever 3D dance film. Infectious energy and decent performances by the newcomers in the cast made the film a good watch.
Soon after ABCD’s success, the makers, in its 2nd instalment – ABCD 2, roped in actors like Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor. This one too was a complete entertainer filled with delightful dance performances. You must watch these films, if you are a dance lover. They truly lifted the standards of Indian dance films. Good choreography and songs worked in this franchise’s favour.
Another dance film that released this year was Munna Michael. Tiger Shroff and Nawazuddin Siddiqui came together for the first time for this dance flick. Tiger is quite popular among the youth thanks to his terrific dancing and martial arts skills, while Nawaz has time and again proven his mettle as a versatile actor. Be it Tiger’s dance moves, or the rocking chemistry between him and Nawaz, the film was a complete dance entertainer with Nawaz’s quirky blend, that worked in its favour.
However, not all dance movies in India do well. M.A.D – Mad About Dance, released in 2014 was miserably panned by critics and audience too rejected it. If you love dancing and have an ear for British-Punjabi music, maybe you would find this film a one-time watch. However, only if you are desperate to see another dance film, you should watch this, otherwise you are better off revisiting the ‘Step Up’ movies.
Another bad example of a dance film was the much hyped Shah Rukh Khan starrer Happy New Year. The film was directed by Farah Khan, who is a choreographer as well, however Happy New Year is a muddled mess which has its own warm moments but as a ‘dance film’ failed miserably to work. Just watch this film to see Shah Rukh flaunting his abs and swagger. However, three hours gets too much only to watch him minus a strong storyline.
