Love - Now & Then
‘Love Aaj Kal’ is a movie about love for regular people – not the Romeo-Juliet, Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu type of people who avow to stay married for seven lives – but for the ‘aam janatha’ or the mango people. But when the mango season is over there is no reason to be gung ho about this movie.
Theme
The central theme of the movie is the classic east west dilemma of choosing between career and commitment. Hero and heroine do not believe in commitment. They want to be free but end up in a freedom struggle later in life. The major saving grace of the movie is that it lasts only for 2 hours.
The idea is to compare love between 2 eras. Love in the new millennium starts over a few drinks and has you laughing pink before you can blink. In the 60s, lovers only think or wink but don’t even express their feelings in ink.
Confusion is the driving force behind the story. At first the protagonists are confused if they should be in love, then they are confused if they should move on and after moving on they are confused as to why they have moved on. The heroine is confused if she should get married and then she is confused why she ever got married. Finally the audience is highly confused as to how this movie got a 4 star rating.
Setting
Love in the time of recession means not too many fancy locales. A few scenes were shot in London and San Francisco and the rest of them in stinky studios. However I must admit that the sets portraying Delhi and Kolkatta of the 60s were particularly authentic and added to the demureness of the plot.
Music
The music is bearable because the songs are few in number. It comprises run-of-the-Mill Punjabi bhangra beats that can drive you up the hill when played at such at ear splitting volumes. The only song that was slightly hummable was – 'Nee Twist. Let’s have some Rounak Shounak'.
Cast
Deepika and Saif play the ultra urbanized confused Hindustan leavers. All they do is party-sharty and have no idea about love-shove. The dashing Rahul Khanna is wasted in the role of Deepika’s unlucky husband. Rishi Kapoor is Saif’s agony uncle who gives him unsolicited advice about rising in love by relating his own love story of yester years.
Humour
You would have hoped atleast humour would keep you awake during the movie. But the only thing that can hopefully keep you awake is hope – hoping that a movie with a budget of INR 50 crores will deliver something. However you are soon left hoping that the movie gets over fast.
The Story
The story compares romance of the present and past in every scene.
Theme
The central theme of the movie is the classic east west dilemma of choosing between career and commitment. Hero and heroine do not believe in commitment. They want to be free but end up in a freedom struggle later in life. The major saving grace of the movie is that it lasts only for 2 hours.
The idea is to compare love between 2 eras. Love in the new millennium starts over a few drinks and has you laughing pink before you can blink. In the 60s, lovers only think or wink but don’t even express their feelings in ink.
Confusion is the driving force behind the story. At first the protagonists are confused if they should be in love, then they are confused if they should move on and after moving on they are confused as to why they have moved on. The heroine is confused if she should get married and then she is confused why she ever got married. Finally the audience is highly confused as to how this movie got a 4 star rating.
Setting
Love in the time of recession means not too many fancy locales. A few scenes were shot in London and San Francisco and the rest of them in stinky studios. However I must admit that the sets portraying Delhi and Kolkatta of the 60s were particularly authentic and added to the demureness of the plot.
Music
The music is bearable because the songs are few in number. It comprises run-of-the-Mill Punjabi bhangra beats that can drive you up the hill when played at such at ear splitting volumes. The only song that was slightly hummable was – 'Nee Twist. Let’s have some Rounak Shounak'.
Cast
Deepika and Saif play the ultra urbanized confused Hindustan leavers. All they do is party-sharty and have no idea about love-shove. The dashing Rahul Khanna is wasted in the role of Deepika’s unlucky husband. Rishi Kapoor is Saif’s agony uncle who gives him unsolicited advice about rising in love by relating his own love story of yester years.
Humour
You would have hoped atleast humour would keep you awake during the movie. But the only thing that can hopefully keep you awake is hope – hoping that a movie with a budget of INR 50 crores will deliver something. However you are soon left hoping that the movie gets over fast.
The Story
The story compares romance of the present and past in every scene.
Jai (Saif) meets Meera (Deepika) in a London pub and they develop deep friendship over time. They date each other for 2 years but are still highly confused if they are in love. Meera decides to pursue her dreams as an art restorer and moves to Delhi. Jai is waiting for his dream offer at Golden Gate, San Francisco. They consider themselves to be practical people and decide to break up and move on in life. They throw a break up party for their friends who are highly confused as to what to gift them. They happily part and discover inexpensive ways of staying in touch in a long distance relationship.
Jai sees Meera off at the airport at the behest of Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor). Veer Singh relates his own love story of the 60s where he avows to marry a girl without even speaking to her. Jai is hysterical with laughter and says Veer Singh must be conferred with the Bharat & Ratna awards for this.
Meanwhile both Jai and Meera replace their lost love with some local flavour. Both pretend to be happy for the other. Jai’s current girlfriend is a bimbette who could regularly feature in blond jokes. Meera’s love interest is in her smart and suave boss Vikram (Rahul Khanna). Vikram is the perfect lover boy cum marriage material. Jai brings his girlfriend down to see India and packs her off to see the Taj Mahal by herself. Jai and Meera decide to meet secretly for 3 days and relive old memories in inebriated style by dancing uninvited at weddings. Vikram proposes to Meera, during Jai’s India trip. Meera thinks it over and accepts the proposal. She categorically tells Jai not to keep in touch with her.
As usual, Jai is invited to his Best Friend’s Wedding. Meera’s confusion surfaces, but she still marries Vikram even after a secret rendezvous with Jai. At the honeymoon, realization conveniently dons upon her that her heart is with Jai. Poor magnanimous Vikram lets go off her in true pati parmeshwar style and even helps her in reaching out to Jai.
Jai is offered a job at Golden Gate, San Francisco. His initial enthusiasm wanes off in one year when he finds himself pining for Meera. He gives up his high flying career to look for his long lost love Meera, who is sitting on a high scaffolding chair restoring old buildings.
Thankfully the movie ends there and clears all the confusion.
Moral of the Story
Jai sees Meera off at the airport at the behest of Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor). Veer Singh relates his own love story of the 60s where he avows to marry a girl without even speaking to her. Jai is hysterical with laughter and says Veer Singh must be conferred with the Bharat & Ratna awards for this.
Meanwhile both Jai and Meera replace their lost love with some local flavour. Both pretend to be happy for the other. Jai’s current girlfriend is a bimbette who could regularly feature in blond jokes. Meera’s love interest is in her smart and suave boss Vikram (Rahul Khanna). Vikram is the perfect lover boy cum marriage material. Jai brings his girlfriend down to see India and packs her off to see the Taj Mahal by herself. Jai and Meera decide to meet secretly for 3 days and relive old memories in inebriated style by dancing uninvited at weddings. Vikram proposes to Meera, during Jai’s India trip. Meera thinks it over and accepts the proposal. She categorically tells Jai not to keep in touch with her.
As usual, Jai is invited to his Best Friend’s Wedding. Meera’s confusion surfaces, but she still marries Vikram even after a secret rendezvous with Jai. At the honeymoon, realization conveniently dons upon her that her heart is with Jai. Poor magnanimous Vikram lets go off her in true pati parmeshwar style and even helps her in reaching out to Jai.
Jai is offered a job at Golden Gate, San Francisco. His initial enthusiasm wanes off in one year when he finds himself pining for Meera. He gives up his high flying career to look for his long lost love Meera, who is sitting on a high scaffolding chair restoring old buildings.
Thankfully the movie ends there and clears all the confusion.
Moral of the Story
The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love.
– Anne Morriss
posted by Aditi Bhagwat | 12:37 PM
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