Review: Love Aaj Kal

Directed by: Imtiaz Ali
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Rahul Khanna, Giselle Monterio, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 4/5

Okay so we know there’s always a conflict between two different types of people. As the famous (haha) saying goes “Is duniya mein do tarah ke log hote hai.” There are those who think films are made so we can escape to another world and just have a good time, forget about the bills that need to be paid, the relationships that are struggling or the biggest question of all “what should we cook tonight?”

Aur doosri tarah ke log hai who think films are supposed to be educational, thought-provoking and to some extent life-changing…or whatever.

We don’t agree or disagree with either of these groups of people, but honestly speaking you cannot watch serious films all the time but you can watch a nice romantic comedy any day! So, yesterday was our lucky day and we managed to watch “Love Aaj Kal” on the day of the release @ 7:00 p.m. As you might have sensed this from our opening lines, we really enjoyed the movie aur yeh film hamari umeedon pe khari utri.

Love Aaj Kal is about Jai Vardhan Singh (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera Pandit (Deepika Padukone) and it’s about Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) and Harleen Kaur (Giselle Monterio). It’s about a love story that begins with a break-up. It’s about a love story that begins at pehli nazar. It’s about Love, Aaj aur Kal.

Imtiaz has done it again. Another romantic-comedy, another set of characters you can relate to, you cry with, you laugh with. A movie filled with fun dialogues, real characters, that leaves you with a gushy feeling inside, puts a smile on your face and gives you satisfaction that it was worth spending money on!

The director used flashback in a very innovative way, it was reminiscent of “Rang De Basanti.” Hindi films are known for using flashbacks as a way to tell stories and we feel that flashbacks are just a tactic that filmmakers use when they get lazy. However, Imtiaz has done it in a way that made sense for the film. Some people might get confused, a few were in the theater, by the way the past and present were transitioned together. But we felt this style of editing reinforced the theme of the movie.

Pritam composed the music and managed to deliver songs that capture the essence of the film. There are a couple of tracks that really stand out, all for different reasons. “Yeh dooriyan” was a slow, romantic track that played along with the beginning credits. “Chor bazari” really stands out because of the signature move that is used in the song…great job Bosco-Ceaser! “And we twist” is just a really catchy number but our favorite thing about the song was the nagin move…also it was so cute because Saif was trying so hard in that song.

The costumes were done by Anaita Shroff Adajania and Dolly Ahluwalia. Designers did a great job with the costumes and paid special attention to the costumes of the kal ki love story. We know they did a great job because Jasmine’s mom said it seemed like they had copied everything from the time she went to college in Chandigarh. Especially Harleen’s character. Oh by the way, Harleen was way too cute… the old love story is adorable!

Saif gave a good performance and seems to have worked hard to speak fluent Punjabi with a Dilli accent. However, Saif was once again playing a type of character we’ve seen him play many time before – “Hum Tum” and “Salaam Namaste.” It was definetily Saif’s movie, but Deepika was a pleasant surprise, this has been her best performance until now. She has immensely improved in her dialogue delivery and also managed to give an array of facial expressions…she was awesome in Chor Bazari and the scene right after. Rishi Kapoor was a treat to watch, he was the sweetest sardarji and was a perfect fit for the character.

One very important aspect of all three of Imtiaz’s films has been the dialogues. There were dialogues in the movie that made us feel ecstatic. We’ll give you a list – don’t read if you don’t want to ruin your movie-watching experience!

*Aam janta – mango people
*Main toot gayee (this is way too filmi and hilarious)
*Ajeeb hai, karte hain…we love this because that’s how we think!
*Main senti hogayi
*Tu hamesha correct bolti ho Jaaneman (not sure if it’s completely correct, but loved that he said Jaaneman!)

And some scenes that were too filmi not to talk about: (SPOILER ALERT!)
*In the old love story, when Veer Singh goes to see Harleen in Calcutta…it was so Romeo and Juliet, she’s standing in the balcony!
*Climax of old love story, DDLJ alert! Veer asks Harleen’s mom to let her go…sirf uske saath hi woh khush reh sakti hai etc. Totally DDLJ!

Wish we could discuss each scene with you…we have too much fun analyzing movie scenes, but you know zada ho jayega. Overall, an entertaining romantic comedy that gives everyone an insight into love stories of the past and present. It looks at the simplicity of kal ki love stories and the complexity of aaj ki love stories. Old Veer Singh, Rishi Kapoor’s character, said that Jai has all brain and no heart. That aaj ki relationships are just so thought out, but kal ki relationships were all heart. But this film, it was the perfect balance of heart and mind. It was practical and filmi. Aur kya chahiye?