Eleven years ago, Imtiaz Ali made ‘Love Aaj Kal’, a film through which he tried to put across the point that while the way we speak, communicate or lead our lives might change with time but the basic emotion of love remains constant throughout ages. Now, with his new film, which has the exact same title (‘Love Aaj Kal’), he tries to say the same. The reason he decided to make another ‘Love Aaj Kal’ is, perhaps, because he felt in these 10-11 years, the way people love has changed again and that is something that could be explored in a new film.
The one thing that comes to one’s mind after seeing the trailer is that one has come across these characters (the ones played by Kartik and Sara) earlier. “Tum aisi hi koi ladki nahin ho, kaise bataun ki tum special ho?”, tells Kartik to Sara. Among other shots/lines in the film, this gave a glimpse into the characters Imtiaz has written; they seem similar to the ones we have seen in his earlier films. They are confused about most of the things in their lives. They are not sure if they should prioritise love over their careers. The other character (the one whose story unfolds in the 90s) seems to be his father in the film. As compared to the story involving that of the older Saif/Rishi Kapoor in the 2009 film, this one seems to be a little more contemporary because of the time period it is set in.
The trailer has been edited very well and shows the glimpses of the stories from the two time periods in a fairly balanced manner. Kartik and Sara look good together and so do Kartik and the young woman who has been paired opposite him in the 90s portion. It seems Imtiaz has not really taken the ‘Rockstar’, ‘Highway’ or ‘Tamasha’ route here and has made this film with the intention of telling a simpler story. It has been a while since he has a clean, commercial hit to his name. Going by the trailer, this film should get him back in the reckoning.