We had decided to go for the early morning show of Love Aaj Kal as my roomie & his friends had to go to office after that. The show was at 7:15 am and I got up at 4 in the morning on that particular Saturday! Not because I was too excited to go for the film but I just couldn’t get the sleep after that. Though I LOVE morning shows but I was so sure that I’m gonna sleep in the theatre as it was in Red Lounge where you can completely slouch down in a sprawling sofa seat and have the blanket to cover yourself from the A/C!!!
Anyways, I was excited for the film ONLY because it was an Imtiaz Ali film. He is one of the very few directors who can narrate the same dreary masala stories with the realm of real in them and can make them obnoxiously refreshing to watch. So the film starts and how! Amazing non-linear snap shots & almost silent with minimal dialogues (similar to the opening of Jab We Met). It looked so promising that I thought Imtiaz Ali has hit the jackpot again. Within 15 minutes of the film, the lead pair was breaking up and in an extremely logical, practical and factual manner, sans all the melodrama and the crying and the sad song! Also the reason of the break-up was equally rational. The girl was leaving San Francisco (where the film was based) and coming to India for the restoration of monuments. It was an invigorating treat to watch a Hindi film heroine to have an occupation which needs more physical strength & tedious hours of labor. She wasn’t working in some fashion magazine or a doctor or a model… they were not interested in long distance relationship so decided to part ways amicably instead of dragging on. And if that’s not enough, they also decided to throw a “break-up party” to part ways smilingly & happily. Like audience, their friends were equally zapped whether to be sad or happy for them and what to gift them and most importantly how to wish them??? Refreshingly different, isn’t it?
Anyways, I was excited for the film ONLY because it was an Imtiaz Ali film. He is one of the very few directors who can narrate the same dreary masala stories with the realm of real in them and can make them obnoxiously refreshing to watch. So the film starts and how! Amazing non-linear snap shots & almost silent with minimal dialogues (similar to the opening of Jab We Met). It looked so promising that I thought Imtiaz Ali has hit the jackpot again. Within 15 minutes of the film, the lead pair was breaking up and in an extremely logical, practical and factual manner, sans all the melodrama and the crying and the sad song! Also the reason of the break-up was equally rational. The girl was leaving San Francisco (where the film was based) and coming to India for the restoration of monuments. It was an invigorating treat to watch a Hindi film heroine to have an occupation which needs more physical strength & tedious hours of labor. She wasn’t working in some fashion magazine or a doctor or a model… they were not interested in long distance relationship so decided to part ways amicably instead of dragging on. And if that’s not enough, they also decided to throw a “break-up party” to part ways smilingly & happily. Like audience, their friends were equally zapped whether to be sad or happy for them and what to gift them and most importantly how to wish them??? Refreshingly different, isn’t it?
I simply loved the logical & practical approach towards life by the couple. But unfortunately that was end of the best part of the film. After that film slowly but surely decides to clinch for any other regular love story. The only difference here was there was a parallel love story going on of 1960s (superbly designed & executed) and how the 2009 Gen Next’s cool dude Jai founds an eerie resemblance with the old fashioned & traditional 1960s Veer. Slowly he realized that may be the time has changed & materialistically we’ve progressed at a rocket speed but when it comes to love and emotions, we’re still very traditional & conservative. And that’s where the problem of the film lies… it’s too regressive & drab in today’s time. Like any other romantic film, both of protagonists tried moving on in life with different people but ultimately they realized that they’re made-for-each-other type couple and madly in love with each other (huh!).
Film was funny in most of the parts but second half drags bit in many scenes. As an audience you don’t feel the pain & trauma that the lead pair is going through and that’s not a good sign for the director, actors and especially the writer. On the directorial front, film was impeccable but lacks indefinitely in the scripting level.
Performance wise Saif was convincing as a goofy, confused, suffering from commitment phobia like most of us but actually how hard it would be for him to play that? He
has been playing similar roles since his Dil Chahta Hai days…Salaam Namaste, Hum Tum, Kal Ho Na Ho, Hum Saath Saath Hain…he is always goofy, confused, cool dude and adorable, nothing new for him. Also his Sikh act was hideous, especially the accent. According to me, except Omkara, he hasn’t done anything remarkable in his career. But all said and done, he was plausible and good in the film.
Performance wise Saif was convincing as a goofy, confused, suffering from commitment phobia like most of us but actually how hard it would be for him to play that? He
has been playing similar roles since his Dil Chahta Hai days…Salaam Namaste, Hum Tum, Kal Ho Na Ho, Hum Saath Saath Hain…he is always goofy, confused, cool dude and adorable, nothing new for him. Also his Sikh act was hideous, especially the accent. According to me, except Omkara, he hasn’t done anything remarkable in his career. But all said and done, he was plausible and good in the film.As far as Deepika is concerned, she was confident and true to her role. Again, she had a similar, strong-willed, practical, career oriented girl role in Bachna Ae Haseeno with beau Ranbir Kapoor. But she acted surprisingly well in LAK and is improving with every film till now.
The cameo by Rishi Kapoor was enchanting. He is funny, a friend, a father-figure, a guide and a love guru! What else one need? But the cameo by Rahul Khanna was a total waste of hi talent. He is a fine actor and he has proved it time and again so I don’t understand why he picked up this role?
Film has few really magical moments like when Jai (Saif) kisses Meera (Deepika) in a car for the first time; he looks all over the place, saying, “Kisne dekha? Kisne dekha?” and starts kissing her again. And then when he comes to India and meets Meera after very long, she is in a blue mechanic-dress with dust all over. He asks her what happened to her fashion sense? Has she lost it completely because she was away from him for so long? And she replies rather derisively, “Haan Jai, main toot gayi!!” She literally makes fun of her feelings for him. It was such a delightful change from the usual majboor and bechari Hindi film heroines of ab-meri-zindagi-mein-kuch-nahi-bacha types! Another magnificent scene was when both of them get really drunk and Jai comes to drop Meera at her building, he says, “koi tumhara fayeda utha sakta hai”, pauses for a jiffy and wonders, “agar fayeda hi hona hai toh mera kyun na ho?”
But the film as a whole contains no magic. It falls flat if you remove these few scenes. The parallel-comparative love story of 60s is cute but doesn’t help to retrieve the warmth of Jab We Met and the bubbles of the brilliant Socha Na Tha. I still feel the best work of Imtiaz Ali is Socha Na Tha by far. Also the problem he is soon gonna face is his pattern. He now has a blueprint where the protagonists initially were meant to be together but they part ways because they don’t realize that at that time then they would move on with other people and ultimately will realize that actually they are the soul mates. Also in every film of his, travelling plays a very important role. In every film, the lead pair travels.
Anyways, music of the film is already superhit and very upbeat. The visuals are equally stunning, for example the main kya hoon song has a whole journey in itself, the journey of Jai’s life for a certain period of time.
Technically, the best part of the film was its non-linear editing. Aarti Bajaj deserves three cheers for this.
The real hero of the film is the characterization. Just few expressions, reactions and replies and you know what’s that particular character is all about. For example, if you wanna have an insight in Meera’s character, watch this scene:
Jai walks up to Meera, saying “main pile on nahi karna chahta”, the clear eyed Meera interrupts, “toh kyun pile on kar rahe ho?”
Jai walks up to Meera, saying “main pile on nahi karna chahta”, the clear eyed Meera interrupts, “toh kyun pile on kar rahe ho?”
and smiles…
To sum it up, film starts off on an enormously promising note but fizzles out to be a regular romantic film which lacks in warmth and got lost in the gloss and grandeur. The USP of Imtiaz’s previous works was their simplicity and down-to-earth approach, which is scarce in Love Aaj Kal. Also I’m a dense NON-believer of pyar-zindagi-mein-sirf-ek-baar-hota-hai funda!!! I think you can fall in love more than one time in your life. You just have to be little practical. And that’s where my disagreements start with the film.
Though this is NOT a review, if I’ve to rate it, I would give it a 2.5 out of 5.
Good but not great…
Though this is NOT a review, if I’ve to rate it, I would give it a 2.5 out of 5.
Good but not great…
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