Love Aaj Kal (2009)

An old-fashioned romantic tells his personal love story to a modern man who has just broken up with his girlfriend. Has love really ever changed?

Director:

Imtiaz Ali

Writer:

Imtiaz Ali

Stars:

Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor

4 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Saif Ali Khan	...	Jai Vardhan Singh / Veer Singh
Deepika Padukone	...	Meera Pandit
Rishi Kapoor	...	Veer Singh
Rahul Khanna	...	Vikram Joshi
Florence Brudenell-Bruce	...	Jo
Giselli Monteiro	...	Harleen Kaur
Rajendranath Zutshi	...	Harleen's Father (as Raj Zutshi)
Nirupama Verma
Gunjas Singh
Chandan Anand
Dhirendra Divedi
Sanjay Gandhi
Rajendra Sharma
Vir Das	...	Shonty
Kavi Shastri	...	Jaat

Storyline

London-based Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit meet, fall in love, and she introduces him to her family. Shortly thereafter, they decide to part as she wants to re-locate to India to restore heritage buildings, while he re-locates to America. Restauranteur Veer Singh attempts to convince Jai to pursue her, as he had pursued Harleen Kaur back in 1965 India, but Jai moves on and falls in love with Caucasian Jo, while Meera is all set to get marry her employer, Vikram Joshi.

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Plot Keywords:

love | passage of time | 1960s | old vs. new | rise and fall | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

31 July 2009 (India)

Also Known As:

Erotas horis synora

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£405,673 (UK) (31 July 2009)

Gross:

$2,425,386 (USA) (28 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Illuminati Films, Eros International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Giselli Monteiro auditioned for the role of Pae (Saif Ali Khan's non-Indian girlfriend). At this point, Imtiaz Ali had searched for females all around India for Harleen, but couldn't find the right girl. After seeing her screen test, Imtiaz Ali's wife suggested to cast Gisellle for the role of Harleen.

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Goofs

When Jai and Meera meet up deciding to break up, they hold hands and Jai talks about the irritating traffic. In the next shot, Meera's hands are on her lap.

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Connections

References Nagin (1954)

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Soundtracks

"Main Kya Hoon"
Written by Irshad Kamil
Composed by Pritam Chakraborty
Performed by Kay Kay
Courtesy of EROS Music

User Reviews

Grows on you as it goes by, but still remains uninspiring and predictable.

I was quite disappointed by Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal. So much hype before and after release, and for what? For an ordinary story with nothing new to offer. The film is light and simple, but while in some cases these are the good qualities of a film, in this case, these are actually the film's pitfalls. There is actually no real story to speak of, and the film is slow-paced and at times simply boring. Love Aaj Kal is about a young guy named Jai who just ended his relationship with his girlfriend Meera. He then meets a mature Sardar named Veer Singh who tells him of his own story. From then on, the past and the present run concurrently. Saif Ali Khan plays Jai, and in the flashbacks, he plays the young Veer, whose older version is played by Rishi Kapoor. This kind of narrative style is not one to my liking, but it could have been more interesting had it been used and treated differently. For one, I could not understand why Ali had to cast Khan to play the young Rishi Kapoor. If there was some family connection between the characters of Veer and Jai, it would be more tolerable. Also, one has to note that there is absolutely zero resemblance between Khan and Kapoor, which makes it quite odd that the former played the younger version of the latter.

The film is not unwatchable by any means, but it is just not a film I personally would want to watch again. There are good things about it, no doubt, but they cannot save the story from being stale and uninspiring. The songs are quite nice to listen to, particularly "Yeh Dooriyan", which is wonderfully sung by Mohit Chauhan, and "Aaj Din Chadheya". The entire soundtrack really fits the film's mood. Saif Ali Khan repeats his young, carefree Don Juan role as Jai. His character has shades of Karan from Hum Tum (according to me his career-best), where he played a modern, cool and kind-hearted womaniser. Khan in an actor of unmatched comic talent, and though he is a bit old to play a character of this sort, here too he performs well and successfully portrays his character's gradual growth. The problem is, as said, casting him in the role of the young Veer. A younger actor would be a more interesting choice for the part. Deepika Padukone is an extremely pretty and attractive lass, and her smile lights up the screen, but something is missing there. Though she does well in some sequences, she fails to register the growth in her character. Rishi Kapoor is wonderful as Veer Singh, Rahul Khanna is okay as Vikay, and Giselle Monteiro is decent as Harleen.

Love Aaj Kal has some nice sequences. It was quite funny to see Jai and Meera celebrating their separation, and then regretting it after realising their true feelings for each other. The dialogues are good for the most part. Loved the scene in which Jo, Jai's new girlfriend who is played by a foreign beauty called Florence Brudenell-Bruce, decides to leave him as she notices his indifference towards their relationship. The film can be an entertaining watch with family and friends, though towards the end it has its share of clichés and becomes very predictable. After watching a charming and entertaining piece like Jab We Met, I had high expectations from this Imtiaz Ali film. Unfortunately, in this one the chemistry between the leads is missing, and though the film grows on you as it nears the end, it ends up being worthy of just a one-time watch. I am sure Ali is capable of making much more than just an ordinary love story like this one. Hope he does so in the future.