Finally, after a long time I got to see a good, romantic Bollywood movie. After New York, none of the Bollywood releases excited me at all...but finally, today I saw Love Aaj Kal (a day before its release, thanks to the cinema close to my house which shows a movie a day before its release).
So, I knew that this movie was being looked forward to by many, it stars Saif and Deepika, both of whom have a huge fan following and is directed by the Jab We Met director, Imtiaz Ali but I never felt from the promos that this movie would be one I`d be giving 4 stars to or would even review. However, I was completely surprised today when I realised that I wasn`t only being entertained by the movie (as I had expected) but could also relate to it. Unexpectedly, the movie kept lingering on my mind for quite long after I saw it.
The movie basically compares the way people ’love’ today with the way they used to love in earlier times. At the center of the movie are Jai (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera (Deepika Padukone) who have been in a relationship for about two years and they decide to split as Meera decides to go to Delhi and work on the renovation of historical buildings there while Jai`s ambition is to movie to San Fransisco and take up a job as an architect there. After their ’break-up party’, Jai meets Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) who makes Jai realize his folly of letting Meera leave and separating from her.
Desptie being separated, Jai and Meera remain in touch and don`t even realise that they have got used to each other and are already in love with each other. He narrates his own love story to Jai, when we are introduced to the young Veer Singh (again, played by Saif Ali Khan) and his love story with a Punjabi girl, Harleen Kaur (don`t know her name...but really want to know!). Veer`s love story took place in 1965 in Delhi. Veer fell in love with Harleen the instant he saw her and that is when he had promised himself that she would be his wife. Now, the two love stories, the old love story of Veer and Harleen and the new love story of Jai and Meera, run parallel to each other and subtly represent the differences between the old and the new way of love with the aim of proving one similarity between them; that love triumphs over everything else.
There are a lot of good things about this movie which make it worth that 4 star rating:
-It`s simplicity. Imtiaz Ali is known for making films which are entertaining, fun, sweet yet simple. Be it Socha Na Tha *or *Jab We Met, the common thing between these films is their simplicity. Same is the case with Love Aaj Kal. Though the film boasts of beautiful locations, glamorous lead actors, and songs and dances, at heart it`s a very simple movie. The main characters of the film are very relatable and nothing in the movie is overdone, something which was the main problem in the recently released Kambakkth Ishq. The scenes which are meant to be funny do actually make you smile rather than annoying you and the emotional scenes strike the right chord rather than ending up being melodramatic. Even the 3-4 kisses between Saif and Deepika don`t look vulgar or embarassing at all. Also, thank God, Saif Ali Khan, who has been shown as a kind of a playboy is not shown disrespecting women and treating them like commodities (sorry to repeat, but I`m hinting at Kambakthh Ishq again)
-The treatment of the film is pretty unique. For example, the film starts very differently. Rather than wasting the first half an hour on building up the relationship between Saif and Deepika`s characters, the film just wraps up their two years of being in a relationship in the first ten minutes and comes to the point quite fast. Also, the idea of running two love stories, set in different time period, is quite unique and engaging.
-The performances are another major highlight of the movie. Saif Ali Khan has already played similar characters as is the character of Jai, still he manages to appear and sound fresh. However, he looks quite convincing as the Sikh guy, Veer. In both the roles, he is quite convincing. Especially, watch out for the scene where Saif is beaten up by some goons at San Fransisco and he misses Deepika at that point of time. That is one of his best scenes ever. This one is Deepika Padukone`s comeback movie after Om Shanti Om, seriously, as her role in Bachna Ae Haseeno was quite negligible and Chandni Chowk to China was a major disaster. Deepika, who is more know for her style and glamour will now also be known for her acting abilities after this movie. In the light scenes in the first half of the film, she is natural to the core and in the second half, in the more intense scenes, she is quite impressive. I never knew she could cry so well, seriously! Now, the one who impressed me the most was this new girl who played the role of Harleen Kaur. Unfortunately, I don`t know her name and though at the end of the movie, it was written ’introducing Giselle (something)’, something makes me feel that her name cannot be Giselle. However, leaving her name aside, first of all I must applaud Imtiaz Ali and Saif for making the wise decision of not casting an established or known actress in this role as it would have taken away the freshness from it. Secondly, I must say that this new girl really impressed me a lot. She fitted so well in the role that it seemed that she actually belonged to 1965 Delhi. Her shy facial expressions in the Ajj Din Chadiya song looked so natural! This one`s a discovery! Rishi Kapoor does a good job too and manages to make the viewer forget the unlikelihood of Saif Ali Khan growing into Rishi Kapoor. Neetu Singh makes a surprise entry later in the movie as the aged Harleen Kaur and that`s quite a surprise! Rahul Khanna doesn`t get much scope. He is just about okay.
-The music by Pritam is a winner. ’Twist’, ’Chor Bazaari’ and ’Dooriyan’ are the songs which keep on playing in your head long after the movie is finished. ’Aahun Aahun’, which comes at the end titles, is entertaining and pretty well picturised.
- The three cities, London, San Fransisco and Delhi, captured beautifully by the cinematographer enhance the pleasure of viewing the movie. Also, showing the old love story in brownish-yellow colour was a good idea as this touch evokes the feeling of the 1960s.
So, all in all, Love Aaj Kal is worth a watch so if you`re looking for a good, romantic movie this weekend, then this one`s for you and if not, even then you should watch it. Who knows you might end up liking a romantic movie for a change?