Film: Love Aaj Kal
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor
Rating: ***
Running at: Inox (Forum, City Centre, Swabhumi)
There is a serendipitous combination between music and the moving image that make moments unforgettable, Imtiaz Ali seems to have an inherent understanding of that connection. Jab We Met reveled in such moments, Love Aaj Kal too has its share of them- trains chugging away from the platform, the Golden Gate melting away into Howrah Bridge as Mohit Chauhan hums the soulful Dooriyan. Yet, unlike in Jab We Met hardly any of these moments translate into something concrete, something forceful that will uplift the enterprise to a different level. Instead, one ends up feeling that the too-cute contrivances on which the story is built is always teetering on the verge of collapse.

That said, it’s also true that Ali knows better than perhaps anyone working in Bollywood today how to depict trappings of the modern courting ritual. Through trans-continental conversations between Deepika and Saif, and post-break up dates between the two, Ali not only pinpoints but perfects a seemingly indefatigable series of moments where the two characters fall in love, over and over again, without needing to acknowledge their mutual discovery with words.

Saif and Deepika are your modern-day couple who believe in practical solutions to problems. Thus, when their career decisions forces the prospect of a long distance relationship on them, they have no qualms about breaking up. One person however, has a few objections, Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor), the owner of the café which the couple frequent. He counsels Saif’s character by narrating his own love story which is basically a wonderfully quaint, sepia-toned parallel to the Saif-Deepika track.

... contd.