Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Sara Ali Khan, Randeep Hooda
Director: Imtiaz Ali
What’s it about:
Two love stories in two different times. One is simple yet difficult and the other is complex and complicated. Can the two be mutually rewarding?
Review:
If you have seen the 2009 Love Aaj Kal you know the format. Two love stories run concurrently but one is old and the other is new. There are problems in both. Love Aaj Kal 2020 follows the same pattern but this time with new stories and characters. Characters that are complex, complicated and come with all sorts of baggage. Leading in them is the film’s protagonist Zoe (Sara) who is a girl on a mission. Mission to pursue her career dreams whilst dating random guys. She wants a serious relationship only after she achieves her career goals. While it all sounds great, Sara Ali Khan messes it up beyond repair.
The actress hams her way to glory while trying hard to make us feel Zoe’s first world problems. It would have been relatable had the character been a little more subtle and the performance far more convincing. This alone is the biggest undoing of Imtiaz Ali’s revised version of his own film. Meanwhile, the two men in the film fare far better, thankfully.
Kartik Aaryan is good as young Raghu who is first a lover-boy in a small town but when he tastes the fast city life, he transforms into a street-smart flirt. However, it is Randeep Hooda, who plays his suave character with a charming restraint. It is his love story that is the most enjoyable and it’s a shame that we do not get to see it enough. Ali keeps breaking it to bring us back into the present which isn’t half as exciting. The film’s music is a saving grace and so are the film’s contemporary color tones, even in the flashback scenes. What also helps is also the fact that the film’s runtime is short. It has its moments most in typical Imtiaz Ali style. So if you can manage your expectations then loving Aaj Kal won’t be that big a problem.
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