Love Aaj Kal

<p>Jai Vardhan Singh and Meera Pandit are a modern couple living in . Although happy together, they don’t believe in holding each other back. When career opportunities arise, they amicably break up but remain friends. Meera moves to India, while Jai stays in London, hoping to land his dream job at Golden Gate Inc. in . Jai starts dating a Swiss woman named Jo, and Meera gradually develops feelings for her boss, Vikram Joshi. Both believe they’ve moved on. Running simultaneously but set in the past is the tale of Veer Singh Panesar, a great believer of love. Veer shares his own love story with Jai in an effort to convince him not to let go of Meera. He narrates how he fell in love with Harleen Kaur at first sight and pledged to marry her, despite never having spoken to her. Jai mocks Veer’s old-fashioned ideals, but eventually agrees to visit Meera in India at Veer’s insistence. Meera is stunned, and the two lie to both Jo and Vikram to spend time with each other. They realize how much they still like each other’s company. Jai and Jo break up as Jai is unable to reciprocate the deeper feelings that Jo longs for. On the day Jai is to leave, Vikram proposes to Meera. She meets Jai secretly, who tells her she should make a decision. Angry, Meera tells him to leave her life or else she will never be able to really move on. Parallel to this, we find that Harleen has told Veer she was engaged without being told, and he must leave her. Jai is called to his dream job in San Francisco the same day that Meera realizes her marriage is a mistake. She tells Vikram the truth and calls Jai, but he tells her about Golden Gate. Realizing he is going to San Francisco, she tells him nothing. Meanwhile, Veer declares his intentions of marrying Harleen but is badly beaten by her family. Jai begins to lose interest in his “dream job,” finding that he is not as happy as he thought he would be. He is beaten by some thugs when, while being mugged, he refuses to give them a picture of Meera. He then realizes he still loves her and goes back to India. He finds Vikram, who informs him that Meera left him. In the past, Veer travels to Harleen’s house on the day of her wedding and convinces her mother that Harleen can only be happy with him. Harleen’s mother lets Veer elope with her daughter, and the two marry happily. In the present, Jai and Meera have a heart-touching reunion. was first announced by director in 2008. It is his third film as a director. The film marks ‘s debut as a producer and is produced under Khan and ‘s and Vijan’s . , also the producer was cast to play the dual roles of Jai and Veer. Khan termed the role among his “favourite onscreen characters”. was cast to play Meera, in her first film with Khan. Ali later said that casting Padukone was a “risk”, mainly because she was a “newcomer”. Khan’s then-girlfriend who had earlier worked with Ali in (2007) lobbied hard for the part of the leading lady and openly expressed disappointment as not being cast again. However, Ali stated that according to him, Padukone suited the role of the new leading lady and he could not cast Kapoor wrongly. Kapoor after watching the film however, now says that Padukone was the perfect choice for the role. was cast to play the older Veer. Brazilian actress auditioned for the role of Jai’s girlfriend, but was cast to play Harleen, after Ali failed to find anyone suitable for the role. , was cast in a special appearance as older Harleen, marking her return to cinema after a 25-years long hiatus. was later cast as Meera’s husband, Vikram. The shooting of started in May 2008. It was mainly shot at the , and on the streets and other parts of . Few scenes were also shot at the railway station of , in , , and . The building used as Golden Gate, Inc., in the film is actually the rotunda of . The film was not given a title until January 2009, till the shooting was complete. The soundtrack of was composed by and , with the former composing songs and latter the score. The lyrics for songs were penned by , and the remixes created by DJ Sanj. The song “Twist” samples “Man Dole”, composed by for (1954). The album earned Pritam his first , in addition to a nomination for the . Pritam revealed in a 2014 interview that wanted to compose the music of the film, but the latter was available only for his next, (2011). The music of the film received highly positive reviews from critics. Joginder Tuteja of noted, “It sounds too good to be true but Pritam seems to have kept all his brilliant compositions on hold between and . It is not everyday that each and every song turns out to be extremely good in an album but that’s indeed the case with . This one is going to be unstoppable once it hits the stands!.” Chandrima Pal of stated, “The strength of , lies in the unhurried pace and the variety in the choice of genres, arrangement, treatment. More importantly, the music is fun, young and endearing.” Ruchika Kher from noted, “Pritam has done a good job with the soundtrack and created songs that are sure to become hits. The album is full of soulful melodies.” Anand Vaishnav of stated, ” has a mix of situational tracks and guaranteed chartbusters. The distinction is evident in the music, as it is set in two different times and is one of the most complete albums in recent times.” According to , with around 1,600,000 units (1.6 million units) sold, this film’s soundtrack was the eighth highest-best-selling album of the year. “Aahun Aahun” was subsequently being listed in the “Top 10 Bollywood Songs of 2009” by and . The producers of the film agreed to market tie-ups with , and . The apparel worn by the lead cast is exclusively available at Shoppers Stop. With , they have a tie-up to share the special moments where they could win a chance to meet the lead actor , the protagonist and the producer of the film. The tie-up with the was that both Khan and Padukone would be in England before the tournament begins, with Khan expected to commentate on matches for Indian television. ASTPL, an Indian software developer, also released a based on the film. was later made available on . received positive reviews upon release, with praise for its novel concept, story, screenplay, direction, dialogues, soundtrack, humor, costumes, cinematography and performances of the cast. of gave the film 4 stars out of 5 saying, “On the whole, is for the young and romantic at heart. Sure, it’s not perfect, but the terrific performances, melodious music and stirring emotional moments more than compensate for the hiccups.” Nikhat Kazmi of gave the film 4 stars in a scale of 5, concluding that “Go watch it for its GenNow feel and its modern appeal.” Sonia Chopra of gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5, commenting that “With lilting music and characters you’ll love, Imtiaz Ali, brings out one of the most romantic films in recent times. It’s a love story of the aam junta, with a delicious contemporary edge. Go get your fill.” of gave the film 3 stars in a scale of 5, noting that “It’s hard not to warm up to a film which is, at its core, likable. I just wish I could have liked it more.” Aniruddha Guha of gave the film 3 stars out of 5, writing that “Though may not quite be the film you expect it to be, it does not leave you feeling disappointed either. Watch it without too many expectations and you will come back smiling. And if you have wanted to ask someone out for a while, this film is the perfect ice-breaker.” Raja Sen of gave the film 2.5 stars in a scale of 5, stating that ” is a harmless, watchable film – sad because it could have been truly special. It has its moments in the first half, while the second half is an over-melodramatic drag.” of gave the film 2 stars out of 5, pointing that “The film, in the end, is ordinary stuff, watchable but never memorable like the director’s previous efforts, the far-superior (2005) and After a bumper opening, netted (US$5.1 million) in its first week and (US$1.9 million) in its second week. The film netted (US$7.9 million) in India. was declared a hit by , grossing (US$11 million). It grossed ₹1.19 billion worldwide and was one of the highest grossing films of the year. was remade in in 2011 titled starring , and reprising the roles of , and . A , also directed by Ali, was released in 2020, starring and . remains one of the most popular romantic comedy-dramas of Hindi cinema. It is cited as a milestone in Ali, Khan and Padukone’s career. Khan and Padukone’s performance has been noted as one of their most notable works. Comparing the film with its reboot version, Nairita Mukherjee of stated, ” was ahead of its time. It isn’t Imtiaz Ali’s best but the film had more character and depth than the 2020 version can ever hope to achieve.” She praised the film for showing the characters “prioritise career over love”, a rarity in Bollywood. Utkarsh Mani Tripathi from praised the film and noted, “Imtiaz Ali has portrayed romance in less upper-class settings, to be sure, but rarely has he been more relatable and prophetic.”</p>