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Review - Love Aaj Kal: Love Aaj Kal: Dekko today tomorrow & repeat
Quick Review
At the risk of sounding extremely snotty, I didn't think I'd ever consider having a Hindi romantic film on my list of favorites. But, here I am, guilty as charged with a strong contender. There should have been 200% of credit to give away which would then be split between writer Imtiaz Ali and director Imtiaz Ali.
The writer's decision to pick 2 characters and just focus on developing them, making them grow as people and yet keeping them consistent is a difficult one. It must have been tempting to shoot off into sub-plots. I'm glad they were ruthlessly avoided.
My admiration for various directorial decisions kept building as the movie began. If the first few minutes of the film make you worry, it is only intentional. Trust your capable director. From the background music or lack thereo,f to the way the scenes were sewn together, the director's role is obvious. Almost every 4th or 5th film reviewed here has background music by Salim-Sulaiman but this one was so-not-in-your-face. The flow of the film from one love story into another and back is seamlessly swift. It actually reminded me of Rang De Basanti, only better, because the story was more human.
Another brilliant stroke of genius is not losing the crux of the story to commercial viability. Yet it does keep the tone light enough to engage as many people in the audience as possible. Cracked the Midas touch, have we?
I haven't particularly liked Deepika Padukone in her earlier films but seeing her in the cast line-up I knew if there was a person who could get her to emote it would be Imtiaz Ali. Just like he did with Kareena Kapoor in Jab We Met. And I wasn't disappointed. At least, now we know Deepika can do better than what she has done thus far. We know she can come out of the model-like within-her-frame body language. Though I seriously doubt the taste of costumes chosen for her in "chor bazaari". Minor irritant - shall be ignored.
Of course, Saif Ali Khan has played many a romantic role. But being playful yet intense, contemporary and old-fashioned, happy but dissatisfied isn't something many lead actors in the industry could pull off. And the transition in his character is believable without being inconsistent.
Looks like I'm sort-of back to being in awe of the writing. It makes you think. Is there point in pulling on a relationship that is not practical? Is it practical to give up on a relationship that means so much to you? Do you really know how much something means to you till you push it away and try to take it back on your own will. These are times when before you can ask "Do you love me?" you know the reply "What is love?" Does having it mean binding or finding someone who liberates you? Does not having it mean a space that needs to be filled or is it good riddance to bad rubbish?
There are no solutions to these issues, let alone easy ones. And this one doesn't really give you an answer but it is a film and if it has a set-up and a conflict, it has to have a resolution. This is one of the most satisfying climaxes in a love story. And yet like a friend I watched the movie with said, "I hope the 'wrong' friends don't get the wrong message." That sentence will make sense only when you watch the film. And watch the film you must! So go already! And if you've already been, isn't it worth another watch?
And the beauty is if you are not the type who likes to think so much for entertainment, you'll still enjoy it. As far as looking for the flaws, I'll watch out for those the second time around. Till then I'd like to be with this feeling of having enjoyed a film completely.
Parental Guidance:
- Violence: A fist fight.
- Language: Clean.
- Nudity & Sexual content: Pre-marital sex is referred to. Nothing offensive on screen, other than a couple lip pecks.
- Concept: About friendship, love and one being a part of the other.
- General Look and Feel: A heavy subject is dealt with in a very light atmosphere.
Love Aaj Kal - Cast and Crew
- Official Website: Link
- Banner: Eros Entertainment, Illuminati Films Presents
- Producer: Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan
- Director: Imtiaz Ali
- Lead Cast: Giselle Montero, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone
- Supporting Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna
- Dir. of Photography: N. Natarajan Subramanium
- Editor: Aarti Bajaj
- Background Score: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
- Choreography: Ashley Lobo, Bosco, Caesar, Saroj Khan
- Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty
- Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Vishal:
I stopped reading your review after reading this sentence:
>> I didn't think I'd ever consider having a Hindi romantic film on my list of favorites.
What would you rather consider? A Tamil romantic film?
posted 7 months, 3 weeks agoAmber:
Wow .. I dont think I have ever read a more glowing review on wogma. You just raised my expectations sky-high for this movie. I better not be dissapointed :)
posted 7 months, 3 weeks agoSumit :
The movie's awesum.. !! nd ya , i've not seen so many 4+/5 s for a movie on wogma !!
posted 7 months, 3 weeks agoRahul:
I loved the trailer of the movie and so wanted to watch it. Now your review you has just raised my expectations by a million times. Have to watch this one.
posted 7 months, 3 weeks agoNisha:
Hey
Such a great movie.. and after sooo long.. Imitiaz ali is amazing.. One has to see what a great director is he. He holds the story together like anything. The pace of the movie is fast.. But what amazes me is that he could find the exact pulse of youth today ..Story actually hits the nail right on the head!
Nisha
posted 7 months, 3 weeks agoAnil :
This is a very biased review. I watched the movie and didnt like it this much. It is just a watchable movie. Dialogues are good and direction is nice. But there is no story. The tale of two side by side love stories is just forced. The Love Kal is nothing at all. Just a plain nothing story. At times sequences seemed to be forced into the movie and the way characters talk, it seems like that they want to preach the audiences. I would have appreciated if the director had indirectly conveyed the emotions by good screenplay, instead of making characters talk and preach the audience.
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoAmbuj Saxena:
The movie was a nightmare. The director lacked a consistant vision as to what he wanted to achieve. The dialogues were sub-par and so forced that they sounded painfully absurd. The screenplay was the worst of the lot. There is virtually no flow in the film; it just jumps from one shot to the other. And I confirmed what I long suspected: Deepika doesn't know how to act. The music was average. Rishi Kapoor was mind blowing with his performance in an otherwise dull and uninspiring film.
Of course, you have the right to your opinion.
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agokusublakki:
Nice review. I liked the movie too, but I failed to see Deepika show her acting abilities again! I think she looks beautiful, and thats where her role begins and ends. With respect to her acting, I felt like she really didnt have a role.
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoAmrita:
right on, sister!
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agomeetu:
@vishal brilliant! Did you go watch the movie then? What was your take? I have a couple English and a Polish film and maybe a couple more from the rest of the world in my top films list. Didn't think a hindi romantic film would ever make it. The Hindi ones on the list are Sholay and Chupke Chupke.
@Amber @Rahul ouch! I was thinking about that. You know how sometimes high expectations don't let you appreciate a movie for what its worth. Hope I didn't spoil it for you. Have you seen it yet? If so, did you like it?
@Sumit @Nisha so glad you liked it too
@Anil uhh...did we watch the same film? No story? Preaching? Really? Where?
@Ambuj Saxena It's sad that you didn't like the film. But as you said, to each his own
@kusublakki oh...I loved what she was doing with her voice at different points like when she was teasing Saif Ali Khan or in the drunk scene or in the scene where she's heart broken.
@Amrita Yo sister!! This is so our type of a film!!!
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoPrateek:
This was the worst movie in recent times with nice songs. The only reason I thought I will watch the movie was coz of songs.
Out of a 250/- bucks worth ticket...the end remix song Aahun Aahun worth 50, so does the Twist one and 20/- bucks for band baja version of Twist...Still m running a loss of 130 bucks :(
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoRahul:
If I was in India I would have seen it. Right now I am in Germany - and so my only option is to watch it in crappy rip quality off the internet - and no I haven't done that. Don't want to spoil the movie by watching it in bad quality. But I really want to watch it - Catch 22.:)
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoSaurabh:
This movie is a total crap. There is no such thing as a plot. And as opposed to JWM, which had a believable plot, this one doesnt have any.
The screenplay is horrendously slow n not convincing enough.
This movie is for psychos or maniacs who break up then make up then break up again in love.
Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.
And a "very" biased review.
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoRahul:
Watched it anyways - slow start but the movie grows on to you.
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoBrilliant - completely brilliant. Simply loved it. And the actress who played Harleen is quite beautiful. :)
meetu:
@Rahul I'm glad you enjoyed it despite the expectations (assuming you are the same Rahul above who had high expectations). Don't watch ripped copy, watch original whenever you can...its worth it :)
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoAnoop:
Indeed a very good movie. After long time, I have seen in "commercial" hindi film, a touch of reality, an attempt to do justice to a story.
And thats well recognized in your review.
Thumps up...
posted 7 months, 2 weeks agoPAWAN:
BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS BAKWAS DEEPIKA IS LOOKING SEXY IN MAXI BUT A BODHA SAIF VERY OLD
posted 7 months, 1 week agoVishal:
Meetu, I watched just it yesterday, and although I did enjoy the movie, I am quite disappointed from Imtiaz Ali - who, I think, could have done much better.
posted 7 months, 1 week ago.
One of the best (hindi romantic) films of all times? No way. This is not even as good as Imtiaz Ali's previous two movies.
sonal:
hey...i too watched the movie and was forced to watch it second time. frankly theres is nothing new in the story..this thing has been rehashed so many times - the girl guy not knowing they are in love till circumstances make them realise, why go far, last year's Jaane tu ya jaane na had the same concept and story, like hooking on to different people and someone making them realise.tho id liked the sardar love story for the earnestness and saif's acting, rest i found was totally dumb.and deepika just looks pretty, she doesnt even act to save her life!good songs tho..but i am really surprised to find this review...maybe this time it was an audence who was writing rather than the reviewer!!
posted 7 months, 1 week agoVijay:
I also dont agree with reviewer.
There was nothing new in story, and also some scenes had dialogs which were literally forced, as if audience is dumb, all this is new and needs to be spoonfed to them:
1. The break-up party scene seemed too dragged with forced humor.
2. Rishi uncle's role was tooo bugging (In reality if someone would bug anyone that much, they are in for it most times)
3. Older Saif(as Sardar) was shown literally stalking harleen on his cycle with his friends (how gay is that).
4. And finally movie only shows Breakup-Patchup-Breakup-Patchup .... ... .. as it does not have any story.
Save Money and better watch Kaminey instead.
posted 7 months, 1 week agoSwati:
Meetu, I am so disappointed in you. I hold your reviews to the highest standards. THIS WAS A CRAPPY MOVIE. I wish, I could get my time and money back.
posted 7 months, 1 week agoI also wish I had read the comments before going for the movie.
This is a biased review.
meetu:
@Vishal in fact, I didn't like Jab We Met all that much. This one was a pure love story with no other frills. Just about him and her and their growth as people. Very few Hindi romantic films make it all about the two characters ONLY. And that's one of the many things I enjoyed about the film.
@sonal it has always been the audience's review. I am a part of the audience. That the part might not be in majority is a completely different story. :)
@Vijay I didn't get points 2 and 3 at all. Good for you that you've already watched Kaminey and you liked it so much!!
@Swati Bias would be if I unconditionally liked all of this director's/actor's/actress'/writer's/cinematagorapher's work. Which I haven't. As always, I wrote what I felt when I was walking out of the theater and will continue to do so. Unfortunately, there are bound to be some misses along with some matches. :)
posted 7 months, 1 week agodamu:
When i first found wogma, i used to read reviews but found we have different taste in movies so stopped visiting wogma. But after watching LAK, which is average, saw lots of good reviews everywhere, so am here again to check out what meetu thinks. But I was surprised to see 4+ rating which i didn't see before when i used to read in the past.
posted 7 months, 1 week agoIndrajit Basak:
In my point of view story of the film is not that much attractive, but the song & misuc is excellent
posted 7 months agoPushkaraj:
What did the movie have, (if it had anything, that is)
Good Actors - OK, some.
Good music - Hmmmm. Can't remember.
Good production - ummm, welll, ooookaaayy, Just about.
Most imp - Good story/content - ZERO.
I have my own benchmarks of a good movie (don't we all have ours?). And when I can predict everything that's going to happen in the first 15 minutes of watching it, I write it off.
posted 7 months agoThe screenplay is good, given that the writer had the whole plot already totally set. Saif delivers his lines in a catchy manner, Rishi Kapoor is wasted (Imtiaz Ali could have used any extra for the role, for that matter), Deepika is getting better with every movie. That's about all.
Mr Inkenti:
plzzz....the film is nothing more than a highly advanced TV serial. In fact, given the muck being shown on TV as TV shows, directors like Imtiaz Ali should be given the opportunity to make quality TV shows like Love Aaj Kal.
The film's range is between average-to-flop. The single screens have rejected it and it is average for the multiplex pop-con yuppies.
movie is definitely worth a watch, but only on cable TV.
posted 6 months, 3 weeks agoAvid Movie Goer:
Saw parts of the movie... seemed ok
posted 6 months, 3 weeks agoDeepika is beautiful as always but she should either have one sentence dialogues or just good expressions - which is her best asset.Long dialogue is not her forte.
Just by wathing part of the movie I figured it out and nothing more to watch.
The WOGMA review is too much. Those who may have loved this movie is just becoz of ups & downs - loving emotional folks in their illusionary age of 14+ to 25 which is fine.
only one thing that was confirmed by the movie is Saif will look like Rishi when he is at his age! Thats all -nothing much.
Rishi's acting is not worth rating... he was a jumping jack in his young times but in some movies he did alright.
Mickey:
Meetu i think ur age is comming between your readers and u r writing. Uve become old.....
posted 6 months, 2 weeks agoLeave a new comment