Imtiaz Ali is regarded as one of the best directors Bollywood has ever produced. But, he has been in a slump lately. He made good films like Jab we met, Love Aaj kal etc. When Jab Harry met Sejal bombed at the box office, he tried to re-create one of his successes Love Aaj Kal with the next generation. It is a great idea while being a bad one. If it worked, it would have given both Kartik Aryan and Sara Ali Khan a break in their budding careers but it bombed with both critics and audiences. I have nothing to do in this lockdown so I watched this film. I know nobody wants it but I'll share it anyway. Enjoy the rant-y review of Love Aaj Kal in Lockdown.
Love Aaj Kal is a 2020 romantic drama starring Kartik Aaryan, Sara Ali Khan, Randeep Hooda, Aarushi Sharma in lead roles. The story revolves around 2 love stories set in 1990 and 2020 shown side-by-side. One is based on Zoe Chauhan and Veer. Another is based on Raghu and Leena. When one comes to know about the another, how will the love story change? Don't worry, if you have watched the 2011 Love Aaj Kal, you know everything.
The screenplay is a rehash. It follows the same pattern of the original. It adds some elements for the new generation and some 1990's elements. The director succeeds in emulating the screenplay pattern but the main problem here is the story. It begins well with the introduction of the characters and with the 1990's story taking full shape I thought I would like it but slowly these stories change into one mess. A cute story turns into a confusion where the hero becomes a tharki and leaves the heroine. Thoda jyada hi ho gaya. Present day story is already a mess. The character of Sara Ali Khan is very overdeveloped. Like, she wants her own career but wants her love. She always swings around with this stuff which confuses me. One small confusion with the plot is why have two Kartik Aaryans. When Randeep Hooda could have acted his role. Seriously. This screenplay is one of the weakest of Imitiaz Ali.
The director had full faith in his actors but it worked partially. Let us begin with the best. Randeep Hooda as the narrator of his own actor gives a really good performance. He gives a good feel off his performance just with his narrating skills. Aarushi Sharma in her debut role gives a superb performance. She has a bright future ahead as she too acts naturally and can emote very nice expressions. Kartik Aaryan is good and shows the variations of two different roles. But, as its not his comfort zone, he tends to struggle in some important scenes. But, easily the worst part of the film by a long shot is Sara Ali Khan. She received lot of criticism in the film for her performance, so I thought let us ignore it for this time but her character itself had a lot of flaws in it. So, I had to analyse it and so, I observed the two stages of her performance. One is where she does the simpler stuff. She does well as she is a proved newcomer with her good expressions. But, in the second stage where she has to do the typical Imtiaz Ali scenes, she cracks as her performance becomes unintentionally funny. Otherwise, this film has good performances leaving Sara Ali Khan.
The technical aspects of the film are in the standards of any Imtiaz Ali film. The cinematography has those special angles of angled closeups, under-table shots and some colourful and vibrant images. It's just that I had to see Sara Ali Khan in it. The editing is good emulating the screenplay pattern of the 2011 original. The music in the film is the only highlight of the film. Whenever the songs came, I found relaxation from some of the bullshit the film provided. Although it had recreations from the 2011 original like Yeh Dooriyan and Twist, they work well as they get a fresh treatment. The original songs in the film too are really good. Pritam, you beauty. The art department, costume designers, make-up department and set design really put their all into the film as the it is so colourful and vibrant looking. Overall, atleast the technical aspects are good.
This film has 3 stages. It is best when the songs come, meh when Sara Ali Khan is not there and unintentionally funny when she is in the screen. This would not have been the case if the screenplay was good. I know nobody will watch it but if you wanna watch it, it is on Netflix and Jio Cinema. I recommend you to skip it. You can listen to the songs of the film on Jio Saavn instead.
IMDb Rating : 5.5/10
My Rating : 5/10
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