Love Aaj Kal

I can’t deny that when I was going to watch this movie, I had expected a soppy love story or a friends realizing they have fallen in love with each other kitsch. That was my first mistake. Going by the immense marketing around this film, and the stars attached to it, I was prepared to accept huge doses of lavish settings and plenty of cinematic license. There again I was confounded. So what is Love Aaj Kal all about?

I remember the first time I had seen a movie called Socha Na Tha, I was left thoroughly confused and frustrated. It seemed like a mockery to my senses, which were attuned to watching either happy endings or tragic ones. But here were some characters that seemed normal like any of us, yet were highly temperamental. I had to actually see it a few more times to catch if I missed anything, and am still not totally sure. Yet the protagonists in that movie seemed strangely understandable over time, and the essence of the film lay within the eccentricities of those characters.

Some years and a hugely successful hit later, Imtiaz Ali has revisited Viren and Aditi in their more stylish versions Jai (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera (Deepika Padukone). The young couple goes by common logic, which says that even in a relationship one should ‘Live and let live’, a thought accentuated by Jai’s pickup line: “Dekho main pile on nahi karna chahta”. They separate mutually when their respective careers take them to different shores. Quite practically, they say the relationship won’t last. In their respective spaces, they are most comfortable and keep tabs on each other. It is only when circumstances force them to take decisions that they start realizing a sense of loss.

Parallel to this story, Imtiaz also introduces the same scenario as it played out some 30 years back in the form of Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor). A time when love meant revolution, and sacrifice. As we see Jai laughing at this very thought, I could not help noticing how everyone (including me) guffawed at the emotional lines, which emphasized the way a relationship is viewed today. The male protagonists by nature are shown similar however their mindsets are as opposite as the past and present. For Jai, marriage is not something to be taken seriously, but he realizes the importance of commitment through his own weaknesses and stupidity.

The locations, lavish as they are lend a flavour to the screenplay. I was glad to see there was no compromise in that respect. There is a visible sense of importance given to detail, whether it was the Uttam Kumar movie poster of yester years Calcutta, or the raucous wedding celebrations with a bar-in-the car dickey, of Modern Delhi. Of the performances, Saif was commendable in his twin roles of Jai and the young Veer Singh. Deepika looks stunning and impresses in a few scenes, on the whole however the role warranted a much more experienced actress to achieve its potential.

Love Aaj Kal is certainly not flawless, and there are several aspects which might have been better. I do not expect it to appeal to everyone, much like Socha Na Tha. The key to understanding a movie is to interpret its protagonists. And thankfully for once, this movie allows you to do just that, for good or for worse.

- Suprateek Sinha