Love Aaj Kal...then what about parson and tarson

(Image taken from www.bollywoodhott.com)

Well I will admit it....guilty as charged. I wanted to see a mindless masala bollywood flick and I got more than what I had bargained for. Now the movie in question is Imitiaz Ali's 'Love Aaj Kal' starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. There was some comic relief from Chintuji (Rishi Kapoor) who was getting irritating as the movie wore on. The high point of the movie was the comparison between the concept of love yesterday and today. So we have a Sikh Saif pursuing a girl all over India from Delhi to Kolkatta. This part I felt was inspired by many such local love stories I have heard during my growing up years in Delhi. Fast forward to the 21st century we have a non-sikh Saif who bumps into Deepika at a disco in London and then they hook up. But once they feel their relationship would interfear with their career and aspirations they simply call it quits.

Man why would anyone want to make a movie on this concept.I don't know the answer to that but I felt connected to a particular segment of the mvoie which depicted Saif in the US. He goes to work and come back and pretty much the initial euphoria fades away and he is mugged on the street, beaten to pulp and finally realises that love is more than aspirations and career. Now I can relate to the monotony of the life working in the US. I have just survived the ordeal for the last year.

There were many reasons for my coming back to India but one of the main reasons was that life was very monotonous there. There was a grind Monday to Friday and even the weekends were not that interesting. Now i was not pining away for the love of my life, my love Archana was with me during my time there, but I always felt there was something missing. I beleive that there is more to life than career and aspirations. I would call it hapiness and satisfaction. In Saif's case it was Deepika but in my case it was the exciting life I had in India. My friends, my social networks and all the little things that I took for granted in India were missing in the US. No money could get me the satisfaction of having a cigarette (thanks to Dr Ramdoss it is now an activity that is fraught with danger) and a chai at a local ghumti or tea stall. Life is all about these small things that we take for granted, and when they are taken away we really miss them.

The movie does make a couple of interesting points though

One is the monotony of the life in places like the US but a lot of Indians simply accept it and move along without any satisfaction or happiness. Maybe its the dollars and the associated exchange rate or simply the honor of living in a first world nation.

Secondly it depicts the shallowness of the characters especially when it comes to commitment. They were afraid to commit Saif more than Deepika, but still they were very shallow characters and maybe increasingly as we aspire to climb the corporate ladder we become shallow.

Thirdly the sanctitiy of the institution of marraige was nullified by the actions of the female protagonist (Deepika). Jumping in and out of a marraige shows lack of maturity in understanding something very serious at least in this part of the world.

Otherwise an avoidable flick I would go with a 2 out of 5. The music is forgettable as well.