Sunday, August 02, 2009

Love Aaj Kal - For the Mango People

Liked the movie overall, but was mostly satisfied to see the small bits and pieces of trivia that were thrown around without much fuss. And in the end it all came together that's all.
Some observations -
What's with Imitiaz Ali and three-word movie titles Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met and now Love Aaj Kal
- Deepika looks and acts so much like early Aishwarya Rai (so there's hope for her yet!)
- Saif's looking too old in most of the Aaj scenes. He does rather well in his Sardar role, but Saif playing himself (or rather his Lays munching, Taj Mahal Tea drinking, Royale painting self) is too much of a bore. Bottomline, he'll do well in a period piece (e.g. Parineeta)
- Why take Rahul Khanna in for a thankless 2-line role?
- And why take stand-up comic Vir Das if all the funny lines are delivered by the protagonist himself?
- When was the last time we saw the iconic bharis (water carriers) of Kolkata in a movie....Cant remember. And them again at night (with lamps hanging) - nice touch. Infact the whole Kolkata episode was well handled, except the fact that it was totally redundant to the script. Harleen Kaur could have shifted anywhere, why not Gurdaspur or Ludhiana or even Chennai?
- Which area in Delhi is near to both the Red Fort and Qutb Minar?
- When Saif get mugged in San Francisco, the first person who comes to his rescue asks him 'Bangla Naki? Indian?' a nod to the huge number of Bangladeshi and Indian can drivers in Frisco. Another nice touch.
- Too much Yash Raj influence on the entire script. All the foreign locations were redundant and superflous. Saif and Deepika might as well have met in Pune or Guwahati and nothing would have changed. (Similar problem in Shaad Ali's Jhoom Barabar Jhoom)
- Harleen Kaur's character (played by Brazilian Giselle Monteiro) reminded me of Neha in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Kareeb. But was the Neetu Singh pay-off at the climax indispensible?
- And finally, loved the way the final meeting ws handled. They walk off together away from the crowds and then finally hug - very very unfilmy - But that's the "coolness" they are trying to show off right

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