Sherazade What is going on in India? Bollywood especially. Where is all this going? What's their angle? The script for this film was not entirely bad but the casting was horrendous. Saif Ali Khan as a playboy refusing to settle down sounds okay but not when paired with Deepika Padukone. It seemed so forced and annoying. Rishi Kapoor is of course wasted and looks wasted in his role as the typical uncle/daddyji. I don't see the point of the two foreign girls either. Their roles could have easily been played by Indian girls and with more finesse might I add. The Brazilian model who plays Harleen Kaur needs acting school. The French actress who played Jo (Saif's girlfriend) was a little better than Kaur but even she was pitiful and her presence absolutely uncalled for but bearable. Deepika's character made me want to vomit so I'm guessing she did a good job with her acting at least. The robbery scene was one of the most unrealistic scenes I have ever scene of any cinema thus, far. Ugh! This movie was quite awful.

Avinash Patalay Its always challenging to write about movie which is complete all aspects. There is a predicament if one would do justice - and needless to say "Love Aaj Kal" falls into the same category. If I were to list the top 3 movies of 2009, it would be - Kaminey, Dev D & Love Aaj Kal.There is no earth-shattering love-story in "Love Aaj Kal". The USP of "Love Aaj Kal" is juxtaposing the past with the present using "Love" as the baseline. In DDLJ Anupam Kher says a memorable line "Mohabbat ka naam, aaj bhi mohabbat hain" and Imitiaz effectively translates this on silver screen to convey that the core emotion/ feeling "Love" is still the same - unadulterated & pristine, the dynamics however may have changed with times.¤ Saif: Reprising the character of modern/ contemporary "Jai" comes quite naturally to Saif and undoubtedly his its his forte. I particularly liked the way "Jai" goes on verbal diarrhoea when he gets confused. It takes a while for the audience to get around rustic sepia "Veer Singh" but once that mental block is jumped over, you would appreciate two distinct characters played by Saif and yet again conjoined to Rishi Kapoor. And yes, donning the hats of the producer is indeed praiseworthy. ¤ Deepika: There are varied shades to her character and it lives within the defined boundaries. Her conviction to follow the philosophy "Set your love free...." is well portrayed. Author backed role and she delivers with utmost perfection (to the extent that you can't imagine anybody else in her shoes). And yes, her best performance till date, and maybe long way to go until she manages to surpass it.¤ Giselle Monteiro: She was fantabulous as Harleen, and keeping the secret under the wraps? Only Imtiaz could have managed to pull such a spectacular feat. ¤ Rishi Kapoor: Spot on. You will fall in love with this large- hearted Sardar.¤ Rahul Khanna: Nearly forgot! He was adequate but his character was more of a stocking filler.Songs by Pritam are neatly-blended into the storyline. The foot- tapping numbers are bound to stay on top charts for a while. Nicely complimenting them is the choreography. The costumes designers deserve a special mention. Technical department namely story, screenplay and script are the strongest point of "Love Aaj Kal". The passion of Imtiaz Ali gets reflected in each frame. "Jab We Met" had set a new bar and I was sceptical if Imtiaz would manage to get even close. But after "Love Aaj Kal", yet again he has set a new precedent. Raj Kapoor was extremely passionate about his movies - he narrated the story from the bottom of his heart, the female characters were fleshed out strongly and the music was rich. The Bollywood can now rest for a true successor to the "Showman" has arrived. PS: The last frame in "Love Aaj Kal" was a pure master stroke.

CAMKG Imtiaz Ali has made 3 films now - Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal - he seems to be getting better and better with each film.He seems to be becoming a better director as well as writer with each film.It is very rare to find Hindi films where people talk like people - with conversations having logical conclusions and transitions. This whole film is built on people having conversations and learning about each other and figuring themselves out through these conversations. I remember Siskel & Ebert lamenting on their show that in the movies, people mention that they have professions and yet never seem to be working at their so called job - but in this film, they do. The script - oh the script! Very smart, no dumbing down, no manipulative melodrama. I recently saw (500) Days of Summer and thematically and in tone these two are similar. Also technically, Ali seems to have grown tremendously as a director - he is very good here in terms of shooting on location without getting unnecessarily enamoured or indulgent.This movie has three performances really - Saif, Deepika and Rishi Kapoor. All have done tremendous justice to their characters; they are also very fortunate that the script provided them with 3-dimensional characters. A special mention for the young Brazilian lady who plays Harleen Kaur in the movie - she is so breathtakingly beautiful and very convincingly Indian. The only blemish for me was Pritam's music and the song placement of that twist song. Pritam was so brilliant in Jab We Met that he actually accentuated the viewing pleasure of that film - but here, his music - though not bad - seems to distract from it. As good as this film is, something tells me that Imtiaz Ali is just getting started and that he is a lot more gutsy and genuinely hatke than we have seen so far. And that is a wonderfully scary thought.

m_shankar20 The three films that Imtiaz Ali has directed so far have a common theme running through them - the protagonists do not realize that they are in love till the very end. In all three the real drama is not in how the lovers meet or fall in love or the peripheral characters (like family or friends). It is about realization. That he does it successfully third time in a row probably tells that Imtiaz Ali either feels very strongly about the concept or that he has had some real life experience of his own.Love Aajkal starts with Jai (Saif) and Meera (Deepika) breaking up. They are apparently very practical about their relationship and plan it such that it goes along with their other plans for life. Only that life, as always, has plans of its own. The more time they spend away from each other, the more they realize they are meant to be together. To catalyze the Jai's end of the realization process we have an amiable old café owner, Veer (Rishi Kapoor). Veer's love story in flashback is a parallel track to Jai-Meera's. Both the stories run juxtaposed with each other to a predictable but nevertheless heart warming climax.Saif plays both Jai and the young Veer. He is top notch in both roles. Flambouyance comes naturally to him when he plays Jai and he is very convincing as the rugged and (at times) clumsy Veer. Deepika is at ease in the role of Meera. It seems as if she is playing herself. At the dramatic scenes, however, like the one immediately after her marriage where she is impatient to talk to Jai, and the scene following that when she is talking to Jai over the phone, she betrays that she still needs to learn the ropes. She looks stunning in every frame. Perfect foil to the glamorous Meera is the docile and beautiful Harleen. She is pretty as a picture, though she hardly speaks in the entire film.Imtiaz Ali is an inspired director. He knows his characters and his story. He is more focused on technique this time, compared to Jab We Met or Socha Na Tha. I guess that is because he was aware that he has a weaker story in hand. He handles the two tracks brilliantly, managing to keep both engaging. His editor delivers the goods for him to achieve that. A noteworthy good work by the editor is the sequence at the beginning where we see the cast and crew credits. It is a collage of scenes from the complete film.The songs go well with the film (though with Pritam, I don't know how much of it is original). The background score could have been more imaginative.Love Aajkal is easily the best romantic comedy of the year so far. Worth watching.