RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

sumanbarthakursmailbox There's a funny scene in Love Aaj Kal in which its protagonists Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone having just broken up amicably, take the liberty to reveal to each other what they've always liked and disliked about the other, now that there's no romantic pressure on them anymore. "You really shouldn't drink on dates," Saif tells her. "You have no idea the advantage I've taken of you when you've been drunk." Deepika responds, "Actually I don't get drunk very easily. I was always awake and quite enjoyed what you were doing. I realized that pretending to be drunk might be the only way to get you to do something." It's witty, charming moments like these peppered throughout the film that are the best bits in writer-director Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal, which is in fact a standard Bollywood love story disguised as a realistic take on modern love.Saif and Deepika play Jai and Meera, a pair of practical, career-driven Londoners who realize they feel true love for each other well after they've split up, gone their separate ways and hooked up with other partners. Nothing unusual about that, except that the film opens with their break-up and follows them up to the point when they are finally reunited.A second love story is narrated in flashback by Rishi Kapoor who plays Veer Singh, a Sikh restaurant owner in London. In his heyday, he wooed a pretty sardarni who lived in his neighborhood in Delhi, but eventually relocated with her folks to Calcutta. Consumed by love, he followed her there and despite opposition from her parents, eventually brought her home with him.DDLJ you're thinking, and you're right. Except for the twist that the younger version of Rishi Kapoor's Veer Singh is played by Saif Ali Khan again, wearing a turban this time so you can distinguish between the two characters he plays. It's an interesting device, and the logic used to justify it is that Saif's character Jai reminds Veer Singh of himself in his younger days.Using chatty dialogue and smart tools like parallel narratives and jumping timelines, Imtiaz Ali tells us a familiar tale with a worn-out message. It doesn't work for the most part because there's no inherent drama in the plot and barely any depth to the relationship Jai and Meera share. From the moment you're introduced to them in that break-up scene, you long to root for these characters; you're meant to believe they're making a foolish mistake by going their separate ways, but alas the lack of chemistry between Saif and Deepika and their surface-level emotions never quite convince you that they're made for each other.The film refers to sexual compatibility but chickens out from using it as an important factor for their mutual attraction.On the other hand, Veer Singh's romantic track is engaging because it's innocent and it's simple and it doesn't try too hard.There' s an earthy charm to those scenes between a younger Veer and the delicate Harleen Kaur, played by a new actress whose name, strangely, has been kept secret.Silences convey so much more than irreverent banter, and nowhere is this more evident than in the interactions between Veer and Harleen, whose romance is conducted almost entirely through their eyes and longing expressions.There is such tenderness in that scene in which she sneaks him a glass of black tea under her dupatta, and he brings her sweets from her favorite mithaiwala in Delhi. Or those Romeo & Juliet-like moments where they gaze at each other affectionately, she at her balcony, he outside on the street.Love Aaj Kal is not a bad film. It's got its heart in the right place, but its other parts seem scattered. The screenplay, for one, is far from foolproof.The incident that drives Jai to realise where his heart lies is ridiculous, and equally unconvincing is Meera's hurried marriage. The young Veer and Harleen track is wrapped up with a convenient culmination that isn't even dramatic enough to justify how much time has been spent establishing these characters.For a film trying so hard to capture the attitude of the current generation, Love Aaj Kal relies too heavily for its key plot points on such Bollywood hits as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Chahta Hai, and even Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.I can't speak for others but I don't think I can take one more film in which a wise old man scolds s a younger fellow for not knowing his heart. "Trust me, you don't know it yourself but you love her," Rishi Kapoor's Veer Singh tells Jai.It's the oldest cliché in the book and I wish Jai would turn around and tell the old man to mind his own business.Love Aaj Kal suffers also because the writers fail to develop Meera's character entirely, which explains your bafflement at her sudden decisions. Deepika Padukone lacks the maturity or the skill to make up for the lapses in the writing and to construct a credible character out of Meera. Saif Ali Khan, meanwhile, effortlessly pulls off the restless, footloose Jai, and brings depth even to the part of the love-torn Veer.It's a joy to watch Rishi Kapoor take ordinary lines and deliver them convincingly, and never miss a beat.The film in the end is ordinary stuff, watchable but never memorable like the director's previous efforts, the far superior "Socha Na Tha" and "Jab We Met".It's like that plump mango you bite into only to discover it's not ripe yet. Watch it nevertheless for the sharp dialogue and some clever humor.

A R S With all the hullabaloo surrounding the Love Aaj Jal, the question is does it deserve it all not? In my personal opinion, the answer is no! After Kambakkht Ishq, this is the second film that has all packaging and no substance. It's hard to believe it's Imtiaz Ali who has given films like Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met agreed to direct a film of this sort.For a start, all the actors in the film get no scope to perform. Watching Saif Ali Khan in Love Aaj Kal gave me a déjà vu feeling. It seems like Salaam Namaste and Hum Tum all over again, expect that this is worse. Those films are actually good, but this is bad. As for Deepika, again, she was good in that crying scene towards the end. Otherwise, the role did not demand much from her as an actress. Giselle Monterio is wooden, despite given a role that only required her to smile and move her eye-lashes. She still manages to look cute, but her attempt to dance is horrendous. Rishi Kapoor is wasted. Rahul Khanna is neglected to the backseat.Overall, there is nothing new in Love Aaj Kal, expect for the 'Aaj' and 'Kal' part! Otherwise, I suggest you take a pledge to never watch this film!

Amit Aishwarya Jogi Indian love in the 21st century isn't quite as innocent- or for that matter, Beautiful- as what it used to be in our parents'- and grandparents'- day and age: these days, lovers' egos are much too big; their minds, much too fickle; and they never seem to mean what they say. This, anyway, is the message of Imtiaz Ali's latest offering. Personally, I didn't much care for it: for one thing, there is no chemistry between Mr Ali's pair of star cross'd lovers. They meet, have sex, break up, and somewhere in between all that, manage to fall in love: but when exactly, and why, and how, is left to our imaginations. Moreover, by alternately telling the stories of a yesteryear romance and the modern one, I have a feeling that Mr. Ali wanted to show us the timelessness of love; that underneath all the glitter, Love has always been the same, and will be so forever: Pure, 24 carat Gold.Unfortunately, that is a message this film fails to deliver.Rishi Kapoor, who plays Saif's amanuensis-cum-guide, is, as always, refreshing; but the one true revelation of this film is Harneet. She doesn't say a word, but her Innocence, such as it is, is worth more than all the words in the world. It's not difficult to imagine why anyone couldn't help but fall in love with her. (This reviewer certainly did!)In the end, Love Aaj Kal is too much icing, but too little cake. For real Gold- and not just glitter- see Jab We Met, Mr. Ali's first film.

karankshah As a movie that compares love in the past to love today, this movie had the potential to be one of the greatest, most important movies ever made. While it's a far cry from being perfect, the subject will hit home to many people, and its treatment is not to be underestimated. The film serves as a direct contrast between love in the golden era, a time when people worked to love, to modern society, where people love to work, and where finding a life partner takes a backseat to this primary objective. the film attacks this directly, drawing out the differences in attitude towards love, and the goals that each of them had in life. The plot moves fast, not so fast to make you uncomfortable, but carries little of the slow moments that remove you from feeling what Jai feels. And boy, does Jay make you feel. Saif Ali Khan's acting is brilliant, keeping audiences sympathetic to his behaviors, his rants (as they number quite a few), and his motivations. His role as a protagonist is well-done, and keeps the audience in the movie.Deepika Padukone's reading is not as good as Saif's though, often coming off as plasticky, but she is mostly adequate. The script holds her up, making her much of a foil to some of Saif's antics, but when she's not playing this role, she comes off as bat***t nuts, where it is doubtful that was the director's intention. The script itself is really well done - for the most part - but this is where my true complaints come in.Make no mistake - this script is excellent. It is quite possibly one of the best scripts to come from Bollywood in quite a while. It, in combination with the cinematography, makes this one of the most subtle movies I've seen in a while. It takes a sharp eye to catch some of the details, a not-so-sharp one to catch others. In combination with the audio, it provides one of the most engrossing stories I've seen/heard/felt. in fact, a scene from the beginning of the movie (spoiler alert, since I've gotten till here without much), where Meera leaves Jai at the airport, and Veer Singh is reminiscing about his own story, is the most stunning sequence I have seen in Indian film, period. So you must be wondering, where is the problem? I answer: It's less of a problem really, and more of a nuisance. The issue is inconsistency: When the script is good (and it mostly is) it flows very well, like water. But in the few moments where it isn't good, it's terrible, it's jarring, show-stopping, and immediately reminiscent cheaper films of the masala variety. The plot is totally understandable - the motivations are clear - but the fact that some of these inconsistencies occur in key points in the plot detract from the overall product in a big way. The subtlety in conversation, the subtlety in story, takes a dive, and here's the worst part of it: very little of it is necessary. It will make some moviegoers scream for the director: "Now why did you have to do that? You used an axe where a butter-knife would have sufficed!" This is the film's largest detractor. In it's defense, as it's likely to be brought up, the film likely needs these more hard-hitting moments to really make a mark on its target. And given it's target, it does very well for itself. If I could have rated it based on how much other people would like it, I would give it a 8.5 to a 9 out of 10, but there's no option for that, so I won't.On other information, the sound score suffers from the same detraction as the script - mostly brilliant, but jarring when not. The music, on the other hand, is sure to be a hit, and Saif's unique dance is likely already very popular. A solid supporting cast with brilliant cinematography makes it a pretty one to look at, and there's no lack of content. This movie is one of those movies that knows what everybody is thinking, and in its job to make their feelings a bit more conscious, it succeeds with flying colors.