Review: Love Aaj Kal is the perfect date movie

Love Aaj Kal (U/A)
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor
Rating: ***

Boy hits on girl at a bar, they make out by the end of that night, they hang out with each other at coffee shops, they make out some more, they start 'going out'. They are in a 'relationship' for two years. Everything seems perfect.

But boy wants to build bridges in San Fransisco, girl wants to restore buildings in India. They don't want a long-distance relationship. They break up. They talk it out and take the decision as practically as they can. No rona dhona, no sentimental dialogues.

All this happens in the first five minutes of Love Aaj Kal.

Imtiaz Ali's latest is the ultimate date flick. Collegians and young professionals will love it. It's them you see on the big screen. The conversation is real, the characters are identifiable, and the lingo 'cool'. Khan plays the 'boy' Jai. You have seen him on the promos talk about how the janam janam ka rishta is a ********* concept.

There are more such gems in the film. When Jai tells Meera (Deepika) after breaking up that she should not get too drunk, because he took advantage of her when she was drunk in their courtship days, she smirks and says she only pretended to be drunk so that he took advantage of her.

Sitting next to Jai, portly, old Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) is appalled by the boldness of the lovers. Veer runs a coffee shop where these young ones hang out and is witness to the Jai-Meera breakup. He can't fathom how two people so much in love can break up only because they want different things in life. He tells Jai, to whom he has taken a liking because he reminds him so much of his younger days, that when he was a young man (Khan again) he married the love of his life even when the odds were stacked against him.

You are transported to a sepia-toned 1965, where the young Veer Singh serenades Harleen. As Veer sits drinking black tea on a Calcutta street of yore, Uttam Kumar stares at you from a black-and-white poster in the background. There are no words spoken between Veer and Harleen, only glances exchanged, and they fall in love.

Jai scoffs at Veer for being so inane. Veer can't understand why Jai can't pursue Meera. There is clearly a generation gap. "But why is it necessary that our generation understands yours and vice-versa? Can't we just be?" Jai asks Veer.

But as Veer narrates to Jai how he finally went about winning over Harleen in spite of the obstacles, Jai finds himself in a spot with his feelings for Meera. She gets married, and he realises he loves her, but it's too late. Or is it?

Imtiaz Ali must have written the script sitting in a coffee shop, jotting down little conversations he may have overheard from the tables nearby. The screenplay is novel; the treatment, fantastic. The film has Imtiaz Ali's stamp all over it, whether it is in the confusion of the lovers whether they want to be in a relationship (something he explored in Socha Na Tha), or in hiding feelings for a person knowing he/she wants something else in life (in Jab We Met, Shahid Kapur's character didn't tell Geet, played by Kareena Kapoor, his feelings because she wanted to be with another man). Here Meera does not let Jai know what she truly feels about him because she thinks he will abandon his dreams to be with her.

Some such moments irritate you. After a breezy first half, things get complicated post-interval, which is fine, except that most of the complications seem to be unwanted. You sense how the film is going to end, but the wait seems endless. Also, the confusion over the two individuals wanting different things in life is never quite resolved.

Imtiaz Ali deserves credit for pushing the envelope once again. After Jab We Met, there were huge expectations of him, but Imtiaz has not let them deter him from making something that is, frankly, a risky subject. The film may not have an appeal as wide as Jab We Met, or may not even be watched as many times repeatedly on television, but it is testimony to Imtiaz Ali's brilliance as a storyteller.

The writer-director has now made reading the end credits a joy. He ended both Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met with songs. Here, too, he holds back the energetic Aahun Aahun till the very end, so you come out of the theatre with a spring in your stride.

Padukone delivers the best of her four performances so far (six if you count the double roles in Om Shanti Om and Chandni Chowk To China). Though she does not have scenes that require too many emotions in the pre-interval portions, she impresses with her histrionics in the second half.

Veer Singh had to be Rishi Kapoor. He plays the perfect foil to Khan's Jai. The actress playing Harleen is cute, almost lovable. But when do the makers plan to tell us who she is? Even the titles don't give any indication of her existence off screen. It's nice to see Neetu Singh in a cameo at the end.

Love Aaj Kal is Saif Ali Khan's best so far. He dons the double role of actor/producer and shows immense maturity in choosing a subject as novel as this one for his debut production. In his double role, as Jai/Veer, Khan is impressive. His character requires him to be humourous, confused, lovelorn, broken, and happy, and he brings all of those emotions into his portrayal of Jai. As the young Veer, however, he springs a real surprise.

Though Love Aaj Kal may not quite be the film you expect it to be, it does not leave you feeling disappointed either. Watch it without too many expectations and you will come back smiling. And if you have wanted to ask someone out for a while, this film is the perfect ice-breaker.