A refreshing take on an age old feeling. Review on Love Aaj Kal

Love… It is the eternal feeling. Times change, people change but love encompasses all generations in its aura. The aura which makes your heart melt and gives you the ‘I am hopelessly in love’look whether it be “aaj” (today) or “kal” (the days gone by). Imtiaz Ali comes back to recreate the magic of Jab We Met with the highly awaited venture Love Aaj Kal. And yes, the spark is very much there. The flame burns, though fuzzy at times, it does reignite the evergreen passion of love.

Plot:

This is a major letdown. There is nothing new in the plot. Let me say that if you have seen the trailers, you pretty much know how the story is going to unfold. Any happy go lucky guy with the brain of a peanut can predict what’s going to happen next. Jai Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is the archetypical Gen X ‘dude’. He believes to live life to the fullest. He meets Meera (Deepika Padukone) and they both hit it off together. One thing leads to another and soon they can’t get enough of each other. Then (before they could live happily ever after) tragedy strikes! Meera has to go back to India to complete her work as a restoration artist and Jai has made plans to go to San Francisco. So, as a ‘practical’ uber cool Gen X couple, they decide to call it quits and instead throw a ‘break up’ party to celebrate their last few days together. When Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) realises that Jai has committed the biggest mistake of his life by letting his ‘true love’ go, he narrates his own pyaar ki daastaan (love story) to get some sense into Jai and make him realise his mistake.

So we move from the new millennium locales to the 1965 desi setting where our hero Veer hangs around with his friends without any aim to his life. He would be (the modern equivalent) of the 1965 ‘macho’ dude. But alas! God works in funny ways. He falls for the simple girl Harleen(name unknown) and is happy and content just following (and in modern translation, literally stalking!) her around. He also makes a solemn vow to make her his wife. The lovebirds hardly talk but their eyes say so much (I know it sounds cliché but that’s how it is). Unfortunately, it takes a lot many break ups for Jai to finally understand what love is… It is not something ‘practical’. It just happens!

Refreshing approach:

So what’s the big deal? Well, for starters the narrative arc of the film follows a novel approach. The ‘vibe’ or the feel of both generations has been caught beautifully. The film hits the nail on the head with the essence of both generations. The biggest area for improvisation was stereotyping. It was refreshing to see how both the generations perceived each other which is a satire on the generation gap between the youth and the older generation today. However critical they are of each other in the beginning, the feelings evolve to develop a mutual respect towards each other by the end of it all. Both parallel plots have been excellently weaved together to provide almost a step by step narrative. Most importantly, the film doesn’t go overboard on emotions (until the exaggerated climax) and keeps the lightheartedness throughout which keeps you, the viewer, go along with the film even though you know what is to come.

Also, the film is probably the torch bearer for Gen X couples who like to have a good time, hang out with each other and at the same time being ‘practical’. Move over Romeo and Juliet, Heer Ranjha and all, these couples like to stay ‘grounded’ and thus fairy tale romances and the idea of being ‘hopelessly in love’ doesn’t exist in their dictionary. These real life observations added with a pinch of humour will keep that smile constant on your face even though you may not see something exuberant emulate on the screen. Apart from showing the eternal bliss of love, the film wonderfully underlines how people behave in different circumstances. Like Jab We Met, LAKexplores the ‘oh so common’ territory of love with a novel freshness which lets the viewer enjoy the movie.

Cast:

Saif is in his zone as the uber cool dude who doesn’t know and believe in love, marriage and all the overbearing responsibilities that come with it. Apparently, it ties down a person and doesn’t let him live life to the fullest. Hmmm… sounds like a movie I vaguely remember (Hum Tum, maybe??). Though all reasons aside, this film should be particularly remembered as Deepika’scoming of age film. First of all, she looks gorgeous in the film (sorry Kareena! I can understand your feelings). Secondly, she handles the emotional scenes with such dignity that she easily outshines Saif. Kudos! Also, she has a penchant for humour. Mix all this with that ‘oh to die for dimpled smile’ and you have a winner! Watch out for the song Chor Bazaari. She literally let’s her hair down in that song and looks like she is having so much fun. She adds a touch of sincerity to her character which is what probably makes her connect instantly with the audience. Rishi Kapoor does well in his limited role. The girl who plays Harleen Kaur has immense potential and even though she hardly has any lines to her credit, her expressions are very natural. That is all there is to her though (because she can't dance and well, her dialogue delivery is not quite up to the mark).  Florence Brudenell-Bruce (as Jo) has her 15 seconds of fame (which mainly included looking like a Hannah Montana look-alike in the song “Twist”).

The seasonings: Some bland and others to taste

All the songs are wonderfully picturised and appear at apt places throughout the film (none of them hinder the pace of the film). Needless to say, all of them are already a huge hit but Chor Bazaari takes the cake for me (because of Deepika’s bindaas, no holds barred portrayal in that song). The cinematography is brilliant! Locales are shown with precision, especially the change from a contemporary setting to recreating the feel of the 1960’s.

The climax however, drags on quite a bit. In fact, a whole lot of stuff could have been done away from the second half. It doesn’t help much when the story has got nothing new to offer. The script, though takes the cake! The dialogues are very well written and there are some punch lines that one can take home. It is basically the acting and the script (screenplay included) which keeps the film from going into thanda (trash) territory. Imtiaz Ali definitely shows us the sparkle which shone with tremendous luminosity in Jab We Met but with Love Aaj Kal, it’s just a spark, which struggles to stay lit, dimming in places while glowing extremely bright at other times. It’s a nice film and unfortunately, that’s what it remains. With Deepika at the helm, though the film sparkles and shines with all its exuberance.

This one is a complete masala fare. Keep your brain at home and enjoy some ‘popcorn entertainment’. Even though patchy at times, Love Aaj Kal does manage to recreate the magic of love, offering a refreshing take on the age old feeling…