Aaja Nachle (Come, dance with me)

Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 7 p.m.

Directed by Anil Mehta, 2007, two hours and 17 minutes. Hindi with English subtitles

Featuring an introduction and post-film conversation with Dr. Ainsley M. Cameron, Curator of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities and project lead for special exhibition Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art

Free and open to the public. Reservations not required. Seating is first come, first served. Please enter through the DeWitt entrance.

“Dance with me” is both title and invitation to all who experience dynamic, dance-centric Aaja Nachle. After nearly a decade, an unexpected phone call shakes dance instructor Dia (Madhuri Dixit) out of her rehearsal in New York, where she lives with her young daughter. Her teacher is dying, and she decides she must return to her hometown in India. When she arrives, she learns that the Ajanta Theatre—the once vibrant arts center where she learned to dance—is to be demolished. Dia has only two months to create a performance that proves the Ajanta must be saved.

If you need accessibility accommodations for this event, please email [email protected]. Please contact us at least two weeks in advance to ensure accommodations can be made.