LOVE AAJ KAL (2009)
Director: Imtiaz Ali Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor
Rating: *****
Imtiaz Ali was the man behind that very endearing movie - Jab We Met which has become a cult of epic proportions amongst Hindi movie lovers. While Jab We Met was essentially about love effecting and changing two people for the better, Love Aaj Kal takes an altogether different route. It’s not the typical boy-meets-girl story. It’s what the boy-and-girl-do-when-they-think-that-it’s-not-going-to-work-out story.
So what is love? They say Love is happiness, it is bliss, it is life transforming, it is passion, it is pain, and often it is disappointment. Simply put love is so many things put together yet it is inexplicable. Nothing evokes more powerful emotions than love. ‘Love Aaj Kal’ tries to look at the dynamics of love as it happens and exists today vis-a-vis the love which actually happened and existed ages ago and the kind which exists today only in romantic novels and implausible movie plots.
Does the notion of love which talks about the existence of soul mates, thunderbolt at first sight and loving and living with each other for many lives hold true for this generation where any and everything is ready-made/instant? Is there anything known as true love? Do distances matter in relationships? Does love happen only once in a lifetime? Or can you love someone again with the same amount of intensity? Love Aaj Kal seeks and manages to answer these questions, not in a very emphatic manner though. The ingredient of cheesiness is used to the minimum and the film is devoid of over sappiness and works mostly at a practical level.
Jai Vardhan (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera Pandit (Deepika Padukone) are the in-love-but-ambitious-couple who live in London. Meera has to go to Delhi, India to pursue her career in arts while Jai has always dreamt of settling in the city of the Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco. Their ways are meant to part and part is what they amicably do. It’s here that the “we-move-on-quickly-with-no-hang-ups” quality of today’s youth is shown. The coolio treatment follows whereby the couple throw a “Break Up Party”, part ways and encourage each other to find new people and get over each other! But do they really manage to do that? It is at this point that the story is interwoven and stirred gently with another story which takes place some decades ago. It’s here where the contrast is beautifully shown – of how Gen-X has stopped being patient, of how it has stopped hoping and believing and of how it has adopted a practical (perhaps rightfully) approach to life and relationships.
Saif Ali Khan has truly grown as an actor. From the quirky guy in Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho to the intense and villainous Langda Tyagi in Omkaara, Saif has truly matured as an actor and this maturity clearly reflects in his portrayal of the character Jai Vardhan, a very real and relatable character who experiences a range of emotions throughout the story. It is Saif who carries the entire movie on his shoulders. The high point of his performance comes during the scenes when his character is dismayed, wondering what is amiss in his life even though he has achieved his dream of settling in SFO. Deepika as the lead actress is a bit of a letdown as she seems to continue in the same mould as her characters in Bachna Ae Haseeno & CC2C by pretty much the same standard looks and expressions. Rishi Kapoor in a pivotal role is endearing but it’s the sort of role which has become a cliché for him (Read Hum Tum, Fanaa, Luck By Chance etc.). The role doesn’t stretch Rishi Kapoor at all as you’d imagine that a seasoned actor like him would turn up on the sets and get it right in the first take itself.
The film takes place at four places – UK, Delhi, Kolkata and San Francisco which makes it an ideal platform for creative and visual excellence in cinematography. Since the film has two stories one of which takes place presumably in the 1950s, the cinematographer does a good job by getting the look and feel of the by-lanes of Delhi and Kolkata during this period right. As a Delhite it is heartening to see that this for long ignored city is now on the radar of major film makers. India Gate, Qutub Minar, the wide open tree lined roads, Dilli Haat, the Gurgaon high rises and the Delhi Metro are all captured brilliantly by the camera.
Music was a high point of Imtiaz Ali’s last film - Jab We Met and while the soundtrack doesn’t match the brilliance of that movie it does have some tracks which truly sparkle on screen. “Ye Dooriyan” sung by Mohit Chauhan is easily the best song on the soundtrack, though the song could have been strategically better placed in the storyline. Nevertheless ‘Ye Dooriyan’ is the quintessential track to be played on a winter night remembering each and every dear one’s absence from your life. ‘Main Kya Hoon’ sung by KK is the song which is most perfectly executed in the storyline. ‘Chor Bazaari’ is peppy, ‘Aj Din Chadhiya’ is earthy, ‘Twist’ leaves a lot more to be desired while ‘Aaahun Aahun’ at the end is no ‘Mauja Hi Mauja’.
Overall, Love Aaj Kal is not a letdown. It’s fun and understated. At a runtime of 130 minutes, the film is crisp by Hindi Cinema standards. Don’t expect the film to overwhelm you like Jab We Met. Love Aaj Kal is like that cup of tea with just the right amount of sugar. But still you might wonder why the sugar was too little/more.
