Really Surprised!

Am I Missing Something?

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

I watched the movie today on DVD. Good movie I would say, different treatment to a love story.As a romance, this film has plenty put on its plate. Logical conversation shown between two guys is a good concept.Its two stories tell the stark difference between the modern rules of courtship based on practicality, versus that of the more traditional way, though the common thread will always, and has been to follow your heart.Amongst actors Saif Ali Khan does a good job as Jai though he looked too old for it, as Veer he does a great job Deepika Padukone does her role well, though it doesn't demand much from her Rishi Kapoor is outstanding as usual.In My Opinion Love Aaj Kal is one of the good Love Stories I have seen so far !

Quiteliterally Love - Aaj - Kal, Imtiaz Ali's take on loves-lovers past and present is a good follow-up to Jab We Met. Any notions of the film being merely an exercise in comparison are dispelled before halftime. Jai (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera (Deepika Padukone) have to go through their respective dreams of working for Golden Gate Inc. and doing restoration work to monuments in Dilli before realizing their need for one another. The theme of bridges isn't bandied about on screen (the title has the Golden Gate adorning it) but presented with subtlety; their metaphorical nature - Jai is well into 'building bridges' with Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor, so effortless that the role hints at a palpable danger of his being typecast in the future) - is driven home with clarity. In short, the crucial ingredients that made people susceptible in the decades past to falling headlong into love - deprivation and finding access to one's partner difficult - are the missing pieces for the modern couple too. Almost as if a work of art was finding itself, the film heaves an audible sigh, relieved that not much has changed over the years.About the pair then. Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone have zero natural chemistry and far from being a detractor, it adds to the experience - it makes their on-screen vibes seem very appealing. Indian filmmakers dealing with love stories go to great lengths in casting the lead pair and try to derive much of the chemistry from the pair itself. None of that here. Imtiaz has worked at extracting performances from the duo making them seem every inch a couple by dint of putting them at ease with each other and also by the play of events.Love Aaj Kal holds testimony to the comfort levels Indian filmmakers have established with cinematographic techniques (Natarajan Subramaniam, here) in the past decade. Experimenting yet but there are genuine indicators here to the control they have over the same. The period pieces don't feel overdone. The songs (Pritam) could have added more to the film and only two of them (Chor Bazaari and Dooriyan) register.All these are packaged into just-about-two-hours making for a crisp movie. For that alone, Imtiaz deserves applause.

Its always challenging to write about movie which is complete all aspects. There is a predicament if one would do justice - and needless to say "Love Aaj Kal" falls into the same category. If I were to list the top 3 movies of 2009, it would be - Kaminey, Dev D & Love Aaj Kal.There is no earth-shattering love-story in "Love Aaj Kal". The USP of "Love Aaj Kal" is juxtaposing the past with the present using "Love" as the baseline. In DDLJ Anupam Kher says a memorable line "Mohabbat ka naam, aaj bhi mohabbat hain" and Imitiaz effectively translates this on silver screen to convey that the core emotion/ feeling "Love" is still the same - unadulterated & pristine, the dynamics however may have changed with times.¤ Saif: Reprising the character of modern/ contemporary "Jai" comes quite naturally to Saif and undoubtedly his its his forte. I particularly liked the way "Jai" goes on verbal diarrhoea when he gets confused. It takes a while for the audience to get around rustic sepia "Veer Singh" but once that mental block is jumped over, you would appreciate two distinct characters played by Saif and yet again conjoined to Rishi Kapoor. And yes, donning the hats of the producer is indeed praiseworthy. ¤ Deepika: There are varied shades to her character and it lives within the defined boundaries. Her conviction to follow the philosophy "Set your love free...." is well portrayed. Author backed role and she delivers with utmost perfection (to the extent that you can't imagine anybody else in her shoes). And yes, her best performance till date, and maybe long way to go until she manages to surpass it.¤ Giselle Monteiro: She was fantabulous as Harleen, and keeping the secret under the wraps? Only Imtiaz could have managed to pull such a spectacular feat. ¤ Rishi Kapoor: Spot on. You will fall in love with this large- hearted Sardar.¤ Rahul Khanna: Nearly forgot! He was adequate but his character was more of a stocking filler.Songs by Pritam are neatly-blended into the storyline. The foot- tapping numbers are bound to stay on top charts for a while. Nicely complimenting them is the choreography. The costumes designers deserve a special mention. Technical department namely story, screenplay and script are the strongest point of "Love Aaj Kal". The passion of Imtiaz Ali gets reflected in each frame. "Jab We Met" had set a new bar and I was sceptical if Imtiaz would manage to get even close. But after "Love Aaj Kal", yet again he has set a new precedent. Raj Kapoor was extremely passionate about his movies - he narrated the story from the bottom of his heart, the female characters were fleshed out strongly and the music was rich. The Bollywood can now rest for a true successor to the "Showman" has arrived. PS: The last frame in "Love Aaj Kal" was a pure master stroke.

Imtiaz Ali has made 3 films now - Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal - he seems to be getting better and better with each film.He seems to be becoming a better director as well as writer with each film.It is very rare to find Hindi films where people talk like people - with conversations having logical conclusions and transitions. This whole film is built on people having conversations and learning about each other and figuring themselves out through these conversations. I remember Siskel & Ebert lamenting on their show that in the movies, people mention that they have professions and yet never seem to be working at their so called job - but in this film, they do. The script - oh the script! Very smart, no dumbing down, no manipulative melodrama. I recently saw (500) Days of Summer and thematically and in tone these two are similar. Also technically, Ali seems to have grown tremendously as a director - he is very good here in terms of shooting on location without getting unnecessarily enamoured or indulgent.This movie has three performances really - Saif, Deepika and Rishi Kapoor. All have done tremendous justice to their characters; they are also very fortunate that the script provided them with 3-dimensional characters. A special mention for the young Brazilian lady who plays Harleen Kaur in the movie - she is so breathtakingly beautiful and very convincingly Indian. The only blemish for me was Pritam's music and the song placement of that twist song. Pritam was so brilliant in Jab We Met that he actually accentuated the viewing pleasure of that film - but here, his music - though not bad - seems to distract from it. As good as this film is, something tells me that Imtiaz Ali is just getting started and that he is a lot more gutsy and genuinely hatke than we have seen so far. And that is a wonderfully scary thought.