Welcome to another of those mega hyped, overseas shot, another boring love story from Bollywood. The script, narration, story, acting or even directing is not of the standards that was set by Imtiaz Ali'z previous film JAB WE MET. Now when i think of it even Jab we met was not something very extraordinary or out of the box, but it worked because of Kareena Kapoor and Shahid's brilliant acting and out of the back drop of our simple India- Manali, Shimla and Delhi, not on the bridge of Thames or Hudson.
Here in love aaj kal we have the splendidness of USA and London and 2 love stories to deal with. One in past and another in present, Saif Ali Khan features in both and does decent justice to the 2 roles provided to him and shares the screen with Harleen ( Character Name from Movie) and Deepika Padukone, Harleen is good but not much screen time is dedicated to her, as for Deepika Padukone she gets the chunk of role and has to match the acting of Saif Ali Khan and take the movie forward, is she successful in doing that? no she fails miserably. We can define the screen presence of Deepika as 'naught'. Initially the movie drags on fragmentarily as if trying to decide what path to follow- Karan Johar's or Yash Chopra's. The grandeur. the splendidness....ah!!! our Imtiaz Ali is trapped in those dazzling things.
After a slow start Rishi Kapoor and Sardar Saif Ali Khan do try to pump in some gas into the movie with the past narration but the constant flip flop between past and present does not allow viewers to sustain interest.
Devil must get his dues. It is often said that a good movie absorbs you in its plot. Undoubtedly the sepia hued story set in Old Dilli and Calcutta is charming and better than London one, but focus is more on present and less on past. The movie tries to become complex in the 2nd half with Backdrop shifting to US and Delhi, but over the top melodrama and dragging screenplay with Deepika Padukone's non performance makes the viewers more and more disinterested...All in all a major disappointment , Imtiaz Ali falls into the same trap that most of the bollywood directors fall into. If any movie of a director is good and hit then they just cant seem to follow it up with a better movie. Is this the downslide for Imtiaz Ali as well, or does he really have the talent that we all thought he had after watching Jab we met??? Only time will tell..As for Love Aaj Kal only music and Saif' performance had some positives.
We are compelled to think what has happened to the Bollywood filmmakers aaj kal.....
Here in love aaj kal we have the splendidness of USA and London and 2 love stories to deal with. One in past and another in present, Saif Ali Khan features in both and does decent justice to the 2 roles provided to him and shares the screen with Harleen ( Character Name from Movie) and Deepika Padukone, Harleen is good but not much screen time is dedicated to her, as for Deepika Padukone she gets the chunk of role and has to match the acting of Saif Ali Khan and take the movie forward, is she successful in doing that? no she fails miserably. We can define the screen presence of Deepika as 'naught'. Initially the movie drags on fragmentarily as if trying to decide what path to follow- Karan Johar's or Yash Chopra's. The grandeur. the splendidness....ah!!! our Imtiaz Ali is trapped in those dazzling things.
After a slow start Rishi Kapoor and Sardar Saif Ali Khan do try to pump in some gas into the movie with the past narration but the constant flip flop between past and present does not allow viewers to sustain interest.
Devil must get his dues. It is often said that a good movie absorbs you in its plot. Undoubtedly the sepia hued story set in Old Dilli and Calcutta is charming and better than London one, but focus is more on present and less on past. The movie tries to become complex in the 2nd half with Backdrop shifting to US and Delhi, but over the top melodrama and dragging screenplay with Deepika Padukone's non performance makes the viewers more and more disinterested...All in all a major disappointment , Imtiaz Ali falls into the same trap that most of the bollywood directors fall into. If any movie of a director is good and hit then they just cant seem to follow it up with a better movie. Is this the downslide for Imtiaz Ali as well, or does he really have the talent that we all thought he had after watching Jab we met??? Only time will tell..As for Love Aaj Kal only music and Saif' performance had some positives.
We are compelled to think what has happened to the Bollywood filmmakers aaj kal.....