Love Aaj Kal (2009 film)

Plot

Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit are a modern couple living in London. Although happy together, they don't believe in holding each other back. When career opportunities arise, they amicably break up but remain friends. Meera moves to India, while Jai stays in London, hoping to land his dream job at Golden Gate Inc. in San Francisco. Jai starts dating a Swiss woman named Jo, and Meera gradually develops feelings for her boss, Vikram Joshi. Both believe they’ve moved on.

After his breakup, Jai meets Veer Singh Panesar, a great believer of love. Veer shares his own love story (which, while set in the past, runs simultaneously) with Jai in an effort to convince him not to let go of Meera. He narrates how he fell in love with Harleen Kaur at first sight and pledged to marry her, despite never having spoken to her. Jai mocks Veer’s old-fashioned ideals, but eventually agrees to visit Meera in India at Veer’s insistence.

Meera is stunned, and the two lie to both Jo and Vikram to spend time with each other. They realize how much they still like each other's company. Jai and Jo break up as Jai is unable to reciprocate the deeper feelings that Jo longs for. On the day Jai is to leave, Vikram proposes to Meera. She meets Jai secretly, who tells her she should make a decision. Angry, Meera tells him to leave her life or else she will never be able to really move on. Parallel to this in the flashback, Harleen has told Veer she was engaged without being told, and he must leave her.

Jai is called to his dream job in San Francisco the same day that Meera realizes her marriage is a mistake. She tells Vikram the truth and calls Jai, but he tells her about Golden Gate. Realizing he is going to San Francisco, she tells him nothing. Meanwhile, in the past, Veer declares his intentions of marrying Harleen but is badly beaten by her family.

Jai begins to lose interest in his "dream job," finding that he is not as happy as he thought he would be. He is beaten by some thugs when, while being mugged, he refuses to give them a picture of Meera. He then realizes he still loves her and goes back to India. He finds Vikram, who informs him that Meera left him. In the past, Veer travels to Harleen's house on the day of her wedding and convinces her mother that Harleen can only be happy with him. Harleen's mother lets Veer elope with her daughter, and the two marry happily. In the present, Jai and Meera have a heart-touching reunion.

Cast

• Saif Ali Khan in a dual role as
  • Jai Vardhan Singh, Meera's boyfriend
  • Veer Singh Panesar, Harleen's boyfriend
• Rishi Kapoor as Older Veer Singh Panesar, Harleen's husband
• Deepika Padukone as Meera Pandit, Jai's girlfriend
• Giselli Monteiro as Harleen Kaur, Veer's girlfriend (voice dubbed by Mona Ghosh Shetty)
• Neetu Singh as Older Harleen Kaur Panesar, Veer's wife (special appearance)
• Vir Das as Shonty
• Raj Zutshi as Vinod Singh, Harleen's father
• Rahul Khanna as Vikram Joshi, Meera's ex-husband
• Florence Brudenell-Bruce as Jo, Jai's ex-girlfriend
• Kavi Shastri as Jaat
• Sagar Arya as Jai's friend
• Mandi Sidhu as Colly
• Sheena Bhattessa as Neha Singh, Jai's sister
• Dolly Ahluwalia as Mrs. Neha Kaur, Harleen's grandmother
• Rajiv Nema as Bangladeshi taxi driver
• Amanda Rosario as Amanda
• Himanshu Solanki
• Ajay Kalyansingh as Guy at church

Production

Development

Love Aaj Kal was first announced by director Imtiaz Ali in 2008. It is his third film as a director. The film marks Saif Ali Khan's debut as a producer and is produced under Khan and Dinesh Vijan's Illuminati Films and Vijan's Maddock Films.

Casting

Saif Ali Khan, also the producer was cast to play the dual roles of Jai and Veer. Khan termed the role among his "favourite onscreen characters". Deepika Padukone was cast to play Meera, in her first film with Khan. Ali later said that casting Padukone was a "risk", mainly because she was a "newcomer". Khan's then-girlfriend Kareena Kapoor who had earlier worked with Ali in Jab We Met (2007) lobbied hard for the part of the leading lady and openly expressed disappointment as not being cast again. However, Ali stated that according to him, Padukone suited the role of the new leading lady and he could not cast Kapoor wrongly. Kapoor after watching the film however, now says that Padukone was the perfect choice for the role.

Rishi Kapoor was cast to play the older Veer. Brazilian actress Giselli Monteiro auditioned for the role of Jai's girlfriend, but was cast to play Harleen, after Ali failed to find anyone suitable for the role. Neetu Kapoor, was cast in a special appearance as older Harleen, marking her return to cinema after a 25-years long hiatus. Rahul Khanna was later cast as Meera's husband, Vikram.

Filming

The shooting of Love Aaj Kal started in May 2008. It was mainly shot at the Red Fort, Purana Qila and on the streets and other parts of Delhi. Few scenes were also shot at the railway station of Patiala, in London, San Francisco, and Kolkata. The building used as Golden Gate, Inc., in the film is actually the rotunda of San Jose City Hall. The film was not given a title until January 2009, till the shooting was complete.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Love Aaj Kal was composed by Pritam Chakraborty and Salim–Sulaiman, with the former composing songs and latter the score. The lyrics for songs were penned by Irshad Kamil, and the remixes created by DJ Sanj. The song "Twist" samples "Man Dole", composed by Hemant Kumar for Nagin (1954). The album earned Pritam his first IIFA Award for Best Music Director, in addition to a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.

Pritam revealed in a 2014 interview that Imtiaz Ali wanted A. R. Rahman to compose the music of the film, but the latter was available only for his next, Rockstar (2011).

Critical reception

The music of the film received highly positive reviews from critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama noted, "It sounds too good to be true but Pritam seems to have kept all his brilliant compositions on hold between Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal. It is not everyday that each and every song turns out to be extremely good in an album but that's indeed the case with Love Aaj Kal. This one is going to be unstoppable once it hits the stands!." Chandrima Pal of Rediff.com stated, "The strength of Love Aaj Kal, lies in the unhurried pace and the variety in the choice of genres, arrangement, treatment. More importantly, the music is fun, young and endearing."

Ruchika Kher from Hindustan Times noted, "Pritam has done a good job with the soundtrack and created songs that are sure to become hits. The album is full of soulful melodies." Anand Vaishnav of News18 stated, "Love Aaj Kal has a mix of situational tracks and guaranteed chartbusters. The distinction is evident in the music, as it is set in two different times and is one of the most complete albums in recent times."

Charts and sales

According to Box Office India, with around 1,600,000 units (1.6 million units) sold, this film's soundtrack was the eighth highest-best-selling album of the year. "Aahun Aahun" was subsequently being listed in the "Top 10 Bollywood Songs of 2009" by The Times of India and Sify.

Release

The producers of the film agreed to market tie-ups with 2009 ICC World Twenty20, Shoppers Stop and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance. The apparel worn by the lead cast is exclusively available at Shoppers Stop. With Bajaj Allianz, they have a tie-up to share the special moments where they could win a chance to meet the lead actor Saif Ali Khan, the protagonist and the producer of the film. The tie-up with the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was that both Khan and Padukone would be in England before the tournament begins, with Khan expected to commentate on matches for Indian television. ASTPL, an Indian software developer, also released a mobile video game based on the film. Love Aaj Kal was later made available on Amazon Prime Video.

Reception

Critical reception

Love Aaj Kal received positive reviews upon release, with praise for its novel concept, story, screenplay, direction, dialogues, soundtrack, humor, costumes, cinematography and performances of the cast.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 stars out of 5 saying, "On the whole, Love Aaj Kal is for the young and romantic at heart. Sure, it's not perfect, but the terrific performances, melodious music and stirring emotional moments more than compensate for the hiccups." Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India gave the film 4 stars in a scale of 5, concluding that "Go watch it for its GenNow feel and its ekdum [sic] modern appeal." Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5, commenting that "With lilting music and characters you'll love, Imtiaz Ali, brings out one of the most romantic films in recent times. It's a love story of the aam junta, with a delicious contemporary edge. Go get your fill."

Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express gave the film 3 stars in a scale of 5, noting that "It's hard not to warm up to a film which is, at its core, likable. I just wish I could have liked it more." Aniruddha Guha of DNA India gave the film 3 stars out of 5, writing that "Though Love Aaj Kal may not quite be the film you expect it to be, it does not leave you feeling disappointed either. Watch it without too many expectations and you will come back smiling. And if you have wanted to ask someone out for a while, this film is the perfect ice-breaker."

Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave the film 2.5 stars in a scale of 5, stating that "Love Aaj Kal is a harmless, watchable film – sad because it could have been truly special. It has its moments in the first half, while the second half is an over-melodramatic drag." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 2 stars out of 5, pointing that "The film, in the end, is ordinary stuff, watchable but never memorable like the director's previous efforts, the far-superior Socha Na Tha (2005) and Jab We Met. I'm going with two out of five and an average rating for Love Aaj Kal. 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."

Box office

After a bumper opening, Love Aaj Kal netted in its first week and in its second week. The film netted in India. Love Aaj Kal was declared a hit by Box Office India, grossing . It grossed ₹1.19 billion worldwide and was one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Awards and nominations

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Remake and spiritual successor

Love Aaj Kal was remade in Tollywood in 2011 titled Teen Maar starring Pawan Kalyan, Trisha Krishnan and Kriti Kharbanda reprising the roles of Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Giselli Monteiro.

A spiritual successor of the same name, also directed by Ali, was released in 2020, starring Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan.

Legacy

Love Aaj Kal remains one of the most popular romantic comedy-dramas of Hindi cinema. It is cited as a milestone in Ali, Khan and Padukone's career. Khan and Padukone's performance has been noted as one of their most notable works.

Comparing the film with its reboot version, Nairita Mukherjee of India Today stated, "Love Aaj Kal was ahead of its time. It isn't Imtiaz Ali's best but the film had more character and depth than the 2020 version can ever hope to achieve." She praised the film for showing the characters "prioritise career over love", a rarity in Bollywood. Utkarsh Mani Tripathi from Vogue praised the film and noted, "Imtiaz Ali has portrayed romance in less upper-class settings, to be sure, but rarely has he been more relatable and prophetic."

Notes

References

References

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