Review: Love Aaj Kal (dir. Imtiaz Ali)

At its very fundamental and boiled-down-to-the-core level, cinema just like any other art form becomes a site of relatability. Consequently, our experience of it is then defined by the varying degrees of identification with the narrative. In essence, the perspective of an art form could never be accurate and fixated but just different lenses from which we choose to see it and yes, the translation of sight to the experience of it ultimately becomes personal in nature.

The film is right at its emotional core and has Ali’s Rumi-niscent heart in every shot.

img courtesy: imdb

Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal, which is meant to be another version of its predecessor with the same title, has garnered most criticism than any of his other films. By the virtue of being a ‘remake’ in some sense, it posited a constant, frame-by-frame competition with the former film in the mind of its viewers. However, the film is right at its emotional core and has Ali’s Rumi-niscent heart in every shot.

The film is Ali’s version of an immediate, contemporary story of two hearts seeking an ancient love, stripped of immediacy and moving-ons. Sara Ali Khan as Zoe, is an obnoxious urban girl who is ingrained with the projected insecurities of her mother and is determined to become the rational, ‘only-you-belong-to-yourself’ person her mother regrets not becoming. Kartik Aaryan as Veer, a software developer with a determined heart to not repeat the failed relationship of his parents, on the other hand is a less complicated creature than Zoe. Both the characters carry emotional and mental burden projected and experienced by their parents and friends alike, and try to make a relationship work based upon lessons which never belonged to them. Although both Kartik and Sara are kept at forefront and try their best to deliver justice to their respective characters, Randeep Hooda as Raghu steals the spotlight is his limited screen-time.

img courtesy: the globe and mail

The film’s cinematography captures the meandering topography of its locations, to reflect the rich lifestyle of the characters filled with a vivid set of experiences.

To pull at the strings of a vibrant, young love story, Ali uses open and airy cinematic shots with a fusion of fresh colours in every frame. Be it the hills of Himachal, the lively streets of Udaipur or the urban buzz of New Delhi, the film’s cinematography captures the meandering topography of its locations, to reflect the rich lifestyle of the characters filled with a vivid set of experiences. The songs filled with soulful melodies with deep yet plain lyricism carry forward the story, often becoming a disembodied omniscient narrator in the lives of the characters.

img courtesy imdb

The interesting part is that Ali’s other characters lurk on-screen, emoting and moving in a similar manner to Veer and Zoe…

Ali’s narratives always revolve around complicated characters taking bizarre decisions based upon a chaotic and confused state of mind. At certain points, in the film, the visibility of this ingrained complexity in characters, voluntary or not becomes apparent. The interesting part is that Ali’s other characters lurk on-screen, emoting and moving in a similar manner to Veer and Zoe as if personifying Rumi’s quote “the lamps are different, but the light is the same.” This doesn’t come as a surprise however, because Ali is known to work with Rumi’s transcendental, spiritual and theosophy philosophies and poetry, which is why each of his characters reflect into another, becoming one at core.

On a personal note, the point is that believe it or not, sometimes people make mistakes and make up. Sometimes they leave and never look back, even if a photograph still secretly lingers in their pocket. Sometimes they choose love in the end and sometimes, they choose to find themselves instead. None of our decisions become treaties of rights and wrongs but simply, different paths leading into different stories and different experiences leading to different people. I guess that’s what Ali is trying to tell us anyway, that even though time changes, the love within us remains the same. Lastly, if cinema truly is a reflection of the society as is popularly belived then the criticism of this new-age love story can be decoded as being a criticism of the phoney and pretentious relationships of a contemporary society.