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When professional ambitions clash with personal feelings for a modern-day couple, a love story from a bygone era may offer some wisdom.

The word 'Love' itself brings along with it a plethora of feelings and meanings, which has constantly changed overtime.While the expression of love has changed over the years gone by, does the emotion still remain the same? Has anybody figured out the perfect path towards love? Love Aaj Kal is a movie that tackles this ever-changing dynamic of being in and finding love. Our protagonists, Veer and Zoe traverse this tricky path of love while trying their luck in finding the answers to these questions.—PranavLalpuria

Zoe (Sara Ali Khan) and Veer (Kartik Aaryan) meet at a bar. The two leave and decide to spend the night together at Veer's home, but Veer stops Zoe from continuing their activities. He tells her that the time is not right. Zoe leaves infuriated. Veer keeps following Zoe (he takes a co-working space at the cafe Mazi where Zoe also hangs out daily), who finally confronts him and asks him not to follow her.

There is a flashback scene where Leena (Aarushi Sharma) and Raghuvendra "Raghu" Singh (Kartik Aaryan) have the same conversation back in Udaipur's 1990s. Back to the present day, Veer drops Zoe for an interview at the office of the Mehta Group. Zoe is a budding event planner but has never handled a large corporate gig. She unbuttons her top before entering the meeting and is ripped apart by the Mehta MD Harshvardhan (Siddharth Kak). Zoe is unapologetic about her sexuality and confidence but doesn't get the job. Her career is everything for her. Veer listens to Zoe patiently and slowly they start a relationship. Veer is very flexible and will be whatever Zoe wants him to be. Zoe eventually gets the Mehta contract.

Raghu is an ex-medical student who ran away from Udaipur and now owns several restaurants in Delhi, including the cafe at which Zoe hangs out very often. Raj (Randeep Hooda), who is good friends with Zoe, tells her the story of his childhood sweetheart, Leena, implying that he is a grown-up Raghu. He tells her that he used to behave with Leena just as Veer acts with Zoe, recites his childhood memories with Leena to Zoe, and tells her how he asked Leena for a dance together.

In the flashback, it is seen that Raghu and Leena used to meet each other secretly in Udaipur. Udaipur is a small town and tongues waggle, so eventually word gets out that Leena and Raghu are seeing each other. Raghu wanted to be a doctor. But Leena's parents decide to leave Udaipur to keep her away from Ragu. Raghu left everything for Leena and moved for her to Delhi, discontinuing his studies to be with Leena.

Later, Zoe walks in on Raj and a woman, assuming she is Leena but realizes it's not the case. Raj now reveals that he left Leena for his big town fantasies (he started working in a restaurant and then started chasing tail as he finds that in a big city, he is considered handsome and beautiful girls are crazy after him. Veer forgets all about Leena). Raghu thinks he made a mistake by committing to Leena too soon. Leena finds Raghu with another girl but will never suspect him. She trusts him completely. Raghu feels very bad and starts avoiding Leena. Leena confronts Raghu and says her parents are moving her to Bombay for studies, and Raghu is unfazed. This hurts Leena.

Zoe's mother (Simone Singh) convinces Zoe that she can't possibly have both her love and career together. Zoe is angry that her mom is trying to fulfill her own dreams of an independent life through her, without knowing what she really wants. Zoe goes to meet Veer's parents but leaves crying as she feels that she is compromising with her life. She has a mental breakdown in front of Veer and his parents. Veer relays to Raj what Zoe did, and Raj is convinced that he influenced Zoe towards behaving this way. He tells Zoe his story about how he was caught cheating. He was fired from his job, but he knew the market and gamed it very well to get more and more money from different restaurants in the Delhi area. Finally, an investor offers funding so Raghu can open his own restaurant and Raghu became Raj. Zoe concentrates on the Mehta account and organizes high profile events for them. Her mum is chuffed that her career is taking off, but Zoe is not too sure.

Some days later, Zoe sees Veer with another girl. Heartbroken, she hangs out with multiple people but doesn't happen to like any of them. She goes to a bar with a guy and gets drunk, but he refuses to drop her at her home (he wants to take her to his place for sex) and he gets frustrated and drops Zoe on the street in the middle of the night. Veer picks her and drops her at her house. He says that he can't enter a relationship of compromises with Zoe and breaks up with her. The next day he informs her about a new job in the Himalayas and is leaving for two years, explaining that he has as much right to be focused on his career as does she, and bids her goodbye.

Zoe gets a proposal from the Mehta family to marry Rishabh, but she refuses. Zoe is super angry that her mom is now OK to let Zoe to give up on her career only because a rich idiot has sent a proposal for her. When Zoe meets Raj, he tells her that he met Leena one last time (4 years after she left for Mumbai), when he realized he lost the person he was before with Leena and finds that she is pregnant. He leaves from there, gets into a cab, and goes to the airport. He adds that he still misses Leena but is helpless now. He starts crying, and Zoe comforts him. Raj tells her that she shouldn't make the same mistake he made. Zoe leaves for the Himalayas to reunite with Veer. She sees Veer sleeping outside. She goes and rests atop him. She says that she won't balance between love & work ever, but still, she wanted to be with him. Veer asks whether she will leap with him, to which she agrees, and they reunite and kiss.