Love Aaj Kal — Movie Review

Imtiaz ali is one director who has only experimented with Love Stories and has always added that “Crazy” element in the stories with a flair . Whether it was Socha Na Tha ; where it was Viren (Abhay Deol) who acts crazy n confused or Jab We Met where it was Geet’s turn to act a bit crazy in life and enjoy it her way . This element of craziness has been retained in Love Aaj Kal too but I guess this time it has gone on to another level . This time its Jai who is not only crazy n confused but also a bit stupid. If it was Geet in Jab We Met who was playing with her life , here , its both Jai and Meera who play with their life . Lets talk about that later .

What was most talked about the film was this Past-Present combination in the film and how it was “suppose to bridge the gap between the generations” . Though I liked the non-linear narrative because I have a thing for it but what I didn’t like is the claim that the trailer made of bridging the gap . It doesn’t do any such job . The only thing it tries to show is that Love is eternal and would always remain the same and only the ways of expression have changed which I guess is pretty much known to us . And I guess there’s no way to bridge the past and the present so why even claim to do so .

There were also reports that it is inspired from a Taiwanese film “Three Times” which is not exactly true . Though the idea does seem to be the same but the content is completely different and also the narrative style is different . That one is more serious and has more emphasis on “Conversations” between the two lead characters . There the actors remained same in all the eras ; here they are different .That one is a classic and this one is certainly not. In short , there’s nothing common apart from the basic idea which is also a bit different .

Coming back to the “crazy” element , I think in this one , it was far more stretched and would not be appreciated by Mango People (Aam Aadmi) . I personally liked it but I guess most won’t . Though it looks good to an extent but what went wrong was that some of the most emotional scenes also went flat because of it . The other reason of that being that the movie seems to be in a RUSH of saying what it wants to say . It goes about in a very rapid way and there is no cooling off period where there is time for emotions to develop . Thus the emotional connect between the characters and the audience is minimal which I guess should be maximum for a love story . The whole wedding sequence of Deepika and the one after that seemed so strange and I must say that though I was not but majority of the people in the cinema hall were laughing at such an emotional scene . The interval of the film was also not in the right place and felt almost sudden .

Just talking a bit about story , it has Veer(Saif) who is a modern day guy and believes in Dating and Sleeping around but doesn’t believe in Love . He dates Meera(Deepika) who is also a modern girl who dates and prefers to break off on a positive note rather than crying about it . They both date each other and after a series of break-ups , link-ups and marriages they realise that they are very much in love with each other and can’t actually ever get over with . Helping Saif to realise this is Rishi Kapoor who narrates his love story to him which is from a different time but still is pretty much the same .

The performances are all of equal levels and match with each other . Deepika has acted as good as saif 🙂 which is a complement for her considering saif is in the business since so many years . Though the film focuses comlpetely on Saif (the Producer) , Deepika still has enough for herself and she does a fair bit of job . Saif is saif ; I don’t expect much from him and he doesn’t even deliver more than what I expect . Rishi Kapoor is evergreen and he is great in the film . He looks good along with saif . The new girl in the film has nothing much but she was not that bad .

Coming to the technical side , I did like the non-linear narrative which was good for most of the part but at times a bit abrupt . The cinematography and the art direction was top notch and they managed to show the Delhi and Kolkata from old days quite well .Full marks go to Nataraj Subramanian for cinematography and Ravikant Bhakre for art direction. A few small things here and there did seem a bit cliche but overall it was great . The screenplay wasn’t that good and it was like that they had so many things to show and had very less time . The only person I was disappointed was the director , Imtiaz Ali . His past films had raised expectations but this one certainly didn’t meet those . All his past films had a good story and even Ahista-Ahista which he didn’t direct is one of my favourite love stories . All of his stories have had strong characters which connected well with the audience . Here it lacks that emotional connect which is what hurt the film most and I guess it was his responsibility to establish it . Some of the sequences in this one were similar to what they were in his past films like for example Saif saying about the break-up party that it sounds weird and crazy so we should do it which was quite similar to Geet’s crazy acts in Jab We Met . Some elements like these prove that he has still not got over Jab We Met and also that his heart was still there and not on this story .

The music was obviously not as good as it was in Jab We Met and it was also not properly used by Imtiaz . The only song that I liked was “Chor Bazaari” which also didn’t go down that well . I liked the way Imtiaz used “Main Kya Hun” . One more thing that I loved in the film was that both the lead characters were not shown to have those stereotypical careers and both had something different as their career option . Art impacts life so much and especially cinema . We need to get over the doctors,engineers and businessman . I am sure after watching Deepika doing fresco in this film there will be so many girls and even boys who would at least try to know what fresco exactly is .

Overall , the film is not that bad and can be watched once . If you like things the crazy way then there is a possibility that you might like the film , just like I did , but only to a certain extent . Love Aaj Kal disappoints considering the past work of Imtiaz which has been great . The concept is still different from usual and one can certainly look forward to that .

Movie Rating : Three out of Five ; a good concept but an average film .

Love Aaj Kal — Music Review

The team that gave super-hit music for “Jab We Met” is back again and this time they have a huge monkey on their back which would certainly result in comparisons . The music of “Love Aaj Kal” is out and I must say I was looking forward to this album with lot of anticipation . The film has an all new cast for director Imtiaz Ali who has never worked with them before and as a result expectations are running high . Pritam’s recent work , New York , is already on the charts and has got positive feedback .The lyrics which are done by Irshad Kamil , last worked on Jab We Met where he did a great job . This album has a total of 10 tracks with 3 remixes and 7 originals.

The first one on the track is the one that is already on air , “Twist” , which is a nice peppy track to begin the album . It has vocals by Neeraj Sridhar who is good with English vocals as always and has his distinct style of singing . The song starts with the famous “Been” tune from the hit song “Tan Dole mera mann dole” of Nagin originally composed by Hemant Kumar . The old classic tune has been given a modern feel and it is probably the best thing in the entire song music-wise . The lyrics don’t have much to offer and there’s nothing so great or catchy about them . The only catchy phrase that is there is “And We Twist” which has been given by some guy Indie according to Album Credits so lyricist gets no point for this song . The only two positives of the song are the classic music and the phrase “And We Twist” . Interestingly the credits to both these positives have been given in real small fonts somewhere in the corner on the Album Credits . Overall , a nice track , will get popular for sure but I guess in the long run wont work .

Then comes “Chor Bazaari” by Neeraj Sridhar and Sunidhi . How ironic , Pritam gets to compose a song by the name of “Chor Bazaari” , he he , he would have had no problem composing this one . Well , the song has nice music , I hope the source is Pritam only . The lyrics here are much better than the first track and add to the song . This song would be of the league of “Ye Ishq Haaye” from Jab We Met and I guess in this one also Saif and Deeps would be roaming around in some beautiful locales . I am looking forward to see this song on-screen . Niraj and Sunidhi have sung it effortlessly and did a good job . Pritams Chor Bazaari is of the better tracks on the album .

Remember the cool music in First Trailer of the film . Well , that was from “Aahun Aahun” which comes next . This was the part that made me look forward to the music and as always the best part was in the trailer itself , nothing more to offer . I just loved the first 50 seconds from this track after which it takes a whole different path . And guess what , the first 50 seconds that I loved again have an outside source . Both the lyrics and melody of the this part are from a Traditional Punjabi Track -“Kadi Te Hass Bol Ve” . Good part though that this part has been sung by Master Salim who I think has done a great job . At first I thought it was Mika (considering Jab We Met) but to my surprise it was not him . Anyways Salim does a great job in that part . Apart from the first part , the song in my opinion has nothing much to offer , neither lyrically nor music wise . The guitar piece in the beginning and throughout is good . Music is all about Passion and Feelings and that is very much visible in that first part of this song which are no where else in the entire album . I just loved it .

Then comes “Dooriyan” by Mohit Chauhan . Mohit got a great song in “Jab We Met” but I guess history doesn’t repeat itself so fast . This one is a good track but not a great one . This track would make much more sense after the film releases and when we watch it along with the story . The lyrics are also good . The song has a slow sad feel to it and Mohit adheres to it . He does a good job with vocals . Overall , its a nice slow track that would work with the film .

“Ajj Din Chadheya” comes next by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan which is a nice soulful track with a simple bit of music . The song has some nice lyrics with some inputs from Shiv Kumar Batalvi . The entire track has an element of simplicity to it yet it is certainly worth listening. The Punjabi lyrics have been very well sung by Rahat who as always does a great job . Irshad has done a great job with lyrics and his best on this album . In all , its a nice track that might grow on you with repeated listening and would grow even more once film releases .

Then comes a folk song like track “Thoda Thoda Pyaar” which is a bit different and has some traditional music in it . Though it has a folk song like feel but it is not something like “Genda Fool” which was a pure folk song yet done brilliantly . This one is meant only for film and would look good only in the film . Nothing so different about it and is just like usual traditional Punjabi track . The lyrics and singing both are good .

Finally comes “Mein Kya Hoon” by KK . He has sung this one in similar style that Shaan had sung “Aao Meelon Chale” in Jab We Met . I guess Pritam is responsible for that . Pritam though has failed to compose a good tune for this one . The music is pretty much average for this track and lyrics are also not that good either . The music of this track though would sound good on a good music system and bass lovers would love it . Overall , its an average track and doesn’t provide a good end to the soundtrack .

Then there is a series of remixes of tracks “Twist” , “Chor Bazaari” and “Aahun Aahun” all done by DJ Sanj . These are just like any other remixes , faster and some beats in it for the discs n clubs . The remix of chor bazaari has some bad English lyrics that make no sense as such . Last comes a remix of Aahun Aahun in which the part that I loved has been cut short so that leaves pretty much nothing in it .

Overall , a nice album but falls short of expectations . This one would not be a blockbuster like Jab We Met and would go down as an average bollywood film soundtrack . The songs that are a bit good also don’t impress that much . But still , it aint that bad and Pritam somehow manages a soundtrack that would at least not hurt the film and add to it in a certain way .

Album Rating : 3 out of 5 ; Good but only in parts .