~*Confused Aaj Kal*~. Review on Love Aaj Kal

From last two months, Love Aaj Kal was all over the news and music channels, partly due to controversies (trimmed beard, But I am still confused where was this protest when Singh is King was released and Akki paaji kept a super duper thin daadhi) and partly due to the music scores (most of them taken from some other movies and old Punjabi songs (Kadi te has bol de by Madam Maddi which was taken from a Pakistani song).

In promos, movie looked refreshing but a bit disconnected as well (It was the chemistry between Deepika and Saifu, that failed to impress me especially in first promotional song Chor bazzari). Being a big fan of Imtiaz Ali, I was bound towatch this one. So we did our homework in advance, oops it means advance ticket booking for the first day third show (yeah I know that was not too advance but still we managed to get the last tickets available at Fun Cinema @ Miyapur, closest Movie theatre from our company and place).

After checking and all, we entered the hall, it was already dark over there with some VICCO VAJRADANTI and VICCO TURMERIC WSO cream (what the hell is WSO?? I am still confused) going on.  Within a minute we adjusted our eyes but in meantime we had already hurt a couple of cute thin legs, finally  when we reached to our seat and getting settled, Aladdin’s (Amitabh, Ritesh and Sanju baba starrer) first teaser started playing and it looked like India’s reply to Harry Potter.

While I was busy in looking that who is going to occupy the vacant seat next to mine, I heard a question , Abe kya lagta hai Movie kaisi hogi? I was shocked but then got hold on my nerves and replied,Abe ye tickect book karne ke pehle sochna tha, ab okhli me sar dala hai to musal se kya darna. **Aur waise kisne kaha tha ki movie dekho.

Khair movie started with Saifu and Deepika errrrr I mean **Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit meeting for the first time in a lift in September (as far as I remember, it was September only) and then moved on to December, January, July, August, and so on for and with in 10 minutes my biggest nightmare turned into reality when I heard the song “Ye Dooriyaan” after that and watching Saifu in a plain and Deepika in a car. I was totally confused what is this??? Is movie is going to be in flashback or it is in flashback.

Plot: Love Aaj Kal begins with the story of Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit, who are in London and in love with each other or at least that’s what they think, In spite of this love and all, both are realistic enough to realize that their relationship can’t take priority over their careers which are foremost important for them (Golden Gate for Saifu and some old fort for Deepika), they finally decided to break up, cordially without any hard feelings or tears and gave a break-up party to celebrate the event.In mean time café owner called Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) comes in the pic and asked Saifu about reason of their break up and then narrates his own love story to him featuring bearded saif as Veer singh saying “Is janam mein aur har janam mein. yehi meri votti banegi – Harleen Kaur. Ya job hi iska naam hoga agle janmo me.”But even he was not able to force Jai to stop Meera. 

Chalo Yahan tak to sab theek thaak hi tha par ab shuru hui main problem. In Delhi, Meera starts going out with her boss (Rahul Khanna) using the same tantrums what she used on Jai and  in meantime Jai falls for Jo a Swiss girl . Jo forced him to come to India where he met Meera again and was a bit jealous of Rahul khanna, but decided to move on.  In between Veer Singh keep on tellingJai, ** story bout how he travelled a thousand kilometers by train to stand under her balcony only to have a glimpse of Harleen's face. Jai was confused bout this love and Laila Majnu stuff but later on he realized the fact that may be the relationship might be different in different era with different names but the love remains the same and finally was united with her Meera who had married her boss and left him on the first day of there wedding.

Director and all: Well, now let me talk something about the movie and its crew. Love Aaj Kal is directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan. And this movie was said to be a copy of a Taiwenese film,Hao De Shi Guang **(ThreeTimes in English and as usual the director and producers denied bout that).

As far as direction is concerned, I think Imtiaz was a bit confused bout the characters and failed to develop Meera’s character to its fullest. There was no maturity in her character (aaj break up, kal shaadi, shaadi ke agle din pati ko chodna and then living all alone waiting for old love to come) when we compare with Ayesha Takia’s role in Socha Na Tha and Kareena’s Role in Jab we met. And In end I found this movie to be a khichdi of Socha Na Tha (confusion about love and relationship),Hum Tum (sad lady leaving all alone),Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Rishi Kapoor’s story) and Jab We Met (Again miserable lead lady). And what lacked the most was the chemistry between the lead pair.

Cinematography by N Natarajan Subramaniam was awesome and he beautifully captured the scenic London and Beautiful Delhi. Music by Pritam was contemporary (but beats taken from old songs though royalty paid this time) and back ground scores were by Salim Sulemaan.

Acting: Character of Jai was tailor-made for Saif Ali khan, who looks quite good in the role of a career oriented-smart a$s flirt and acted naturally, looked great and delivered a memorable performance. But when it comes to the role of youngVeer Sigh, he was totally out of sync with his old, bearded look and his mumbaiya Punjabi accent. (Saifu dear, mana producer ho to kya saare role khud hi karo ge :). *

Deepika as career oriented Meera looked good in the scenes that do not demand emotional out-bursts but failed otherwise. I thought Imtiaz would take a character out of her but…. I think may be the problem was the development of her character in the movie was a bit haphazard.

Giselle Monteiro **as Harleen Kaur was an eye-candy and that’s all she was. Her stunned expressions and her freezed dance steps were horrible. I heard that she was taken for the role of JO but later on shifted to this role. Only her face looked like a Punjabi but not her actions, accent and dance steps.

Watching Rishi Kapoor in the role of Old Veer Singh was a real treat and he was brilliant in his short but sweet role and same was true for Rahul Khanna (whose wife lefts him on the second day of marriage sayingMain baad me maafi maang lungi). Neetu Kapoor was an unexpected package in an unexpectedly small role.  Raj Zutshi and others (including Veer Singh’s friend) were ok.

Continued.