Movie Review: Love Aaj Kal

After a disastrous Luck last weekend, and not having found anything interesting in New York, I was beginning to wonder what had happened to all the movies Aaj Kal!

After the superbly made Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali delivers another beautiful movie, a very contemporary love story that is refreshing, happy and true to life. If you are one of those millions of 18 to 35 something (see, I made sure I was included in that range!) Indian youth with a practical outlook towards love and life, you will see yourself in every minute of the movie, you will identify with every dialogue, you will understand exactly what is happening out there. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will want more and more - because it's rare that a movie actually includes you so totally in the experience.

Jai and Meera are like you and me. Young, with big dreams, and a very liberal view towards love and friendships. They meet over cups of black coffee, they go to discs, they have a good life with each other in London. They fall in love. But they also have their dreams, one wants to go to San Francisco and build bridges like the Golden Gate, the other loves to resurrect old frescos and wants to be in Delhi.

The movie starts with their breakup, an open conversation with each other where they decide to part ways, knowing that they'll stay in touch, but also knowing, long distance relationships won't work. That's Love Aaj Kal. Real and practical.

What they haven't counted on is what happens next. Can they really break up? Can they really find love again? More importantly, can they ever live happily ever after, without each other? They try, hard. But will they succedd, or will love get them back together?

Rishi Kapoor plays Jai's mentor, inspiring him with his own forties romance with saddi Harmeen Kaur. In my time, I had to give up love so I could work and be worthy of her, he tells Jai. Now, you are giving her up for your work?

The movie is fast paced, with a couple of not-so-unexpected twists and turns. But it's short, just above 2 hours, and it will leave you hungry for more - not because it's incomplete - no way - but because you just can't have enough of it.

Everything about the movie is fabulous. Let's start with Jai and Meera. The characterization is perfect. Saif excels in every movie, and his growth as an actor has been phenomenal from his Bekhudi days. Deepika proves that she act, and does a great job. Some of her scenes are just so real, so true and so damn touching, it will bring tears to your eyes. She's confident too - check out the Chor Bazaari song, and you will know what I mean. Here's an actor that's come into her own now. And she's beautiful and she's hot. Her dress designer can definitely take credit for ushering in a whole new era in fashion in India. Watch out for it. The rest of the cast, including Rishi, fit the bill just perfectly.

The locations and cinematography are also top class. San Francisco, London, Delhi, Calcutta. And the key props - the beautiful bridges. Some amazing camera work, you will want to take in every inch of the screen.

What I loved most was the scripts and the dialogues. They're crisp, contemporary, and again, very real. The songs are good, too, and will grow on you. Chor Bazaari has been wonderfully choreographed. Yeh Dooriyaan and Main Kya Hoon are also very well done, all 3 songs add so much to the script - they probably cut an hour from the story telling!

This one will bring you back to the theaters, again and again. Love Aaj Kal totally rocks!