Love Aaj Kal (2009)

Director:

Imtiaz Ali

Release Date:

31 July 2009 (India)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Wrong Choices | Two Stories | Immaturity | Time | Sikh

Cast

Saif Ali Khan	...	Jai Vardhan Singh / Veer Singh
Deepika Padukone	...	Meera Pandit
Rishi Kapoor	...	Veer Singh
Rahul Khanna
Florence Brudenell-Bruce	...	Jo
Kavi Shastri	...	Jaat
Vir Das	...	Shonty
Mandi Sidhu	...	Colly
Elizabeth Tan	...	Pae
Fagun Thakrar
Manushka Khisty	...	Kashish
Sagar Arya	...	Mahesh
Dolly Ahluwalia	...	Harleen's Grandmother
Rajendranath Zutshi	...	Harleen's Father
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nikki Simone Akhtar	...	Irum
Leeshon Alexander	...	Marley
Sheena Bhattessa	...	Neha
Molly Brady	...	Waitress
Kevin Dedes	...	Mortimer
Phu Do	...	Lee
Luna LiVolsi	...	Flower
Sonu Louis	...	Martin
Isa Magomedov	...	Architect
Giselle Monteiro	...	Harleen
Desi Motley	...	Architect
Niki-Simone	...	Erum
Kenyon Page	...	Woman in San Francisco Tailor Shop
Dennis Ruel	...	Santos
Manjot Singh
Neetu Singh	...	Harleen
Toni Staniewicz	...	Architect
Shruti Tewari	...	Counselor
Jeremiah Turner	...	Beautiful people at Fog City Diner

Also Known As:

Untitled Imtiaz Ali Project (India: English title) (working title)

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Certification:

Ireland:12A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIA

Company:

Illuminati Films

Trivia:

Giselle 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.

Movie Connections:

References Mother India (1957)

Aaj Kal Ke Love Itne Boring Hota Hai Kya?

I had heard so much of Imtiaz Ali and have yet to see his first two films: 'Socha Na Tha' and 'Jab We Met'. Then the opportunity to watch 'Love Aaj Kal' presented itself and I did not want to miss that. 'Love Aaj Kal' is all gloss and glitter and...that's it. Apart from the appealing scenic locations or the vivacious cinematography, there isn't much that I liked about it. It pretty much looks like a trashy Yashraj remake of a Hollywood rom-com. I don't know if 'Love Aaj Kal' is a direct unofficial remake but the story feels very familiar and bares strong resemblance to movies like 'A Lot Like Love' etc except that it is nowhere near as entertaining as those films.

It lacks the charm and humour that would normally make this kind of movie appealing. While the events are downright predictable and obvious mistakes (like portraying what is obviously a squeaky clean English subway as a Delhi subway) can be forgiven, the pace is very slow while not much is happening. The songs are downright forgettable and what's worse is the way they were visualized and even worse than that is the choreography.

Regarding the acting, Saif Ali Khan is irritating as the Punjabi lad and average as Jai. Deepika Padukone is average at best and overdoing at worst. Rishi Kapoor is a painful caricature. Newcomer Giselle Monteiro is wooden. Rahul Khanna is barely noticeable.

'Love Aaj Kal' is clearly overrated in my views and I want to believe that Imtiaz Ali is a good director and he can (and hopefully in the future does) do much better than this.