The Rainmaker

Movie : Love Aaj Kal
Language : Hindi
Show : 31st July, 2009

Review:
For many years, I have compulsively hated this scene from the super hit romantic movie 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' where a reluctant lover, SRK, lands at Kajol's house just before her wedding to Salman. He weeps and cringes 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Anjali Tum Nahin Samjogi'. It was the most contrived and hypocritical scene in Bollywood romance for me.
Director Imtiaz Ali's new movie 'Love Aaj Kal' has the very same situation when Saif lands at Deepika's house at her marriage to someone else. But the difference here is that this scene is so well and realistically handled, that all the distaste that I held for years, about the above 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' scene, vanished in no time. A new and sincere take indeed.

A model love story acting as an inspiration to a more casual and contemporary one. While Aditya Chopra struggled to make sense with this theme in 'Mohabatein', Imtiaz revels and excels with the same in 'Love Aaj Kal'. Move over Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar. The New King of Romance in Bollywood has arrived. And no this time, you do not have see romantic movies in the most contrived, soap opera type situations. Imtiaz makes them realistic, contemporary and mature.

Realistic, Contemporary and Mature
'Love Aaj Kal' is a movie which will make you have a smile on your face for most parts of it. Its one of the most mature takes on contemporary relationships in recent times. The 2 protagonists Jai and Meera are mature enough to let them go at various points of the story to gauge their love pangs. Its almost a journey through love. There are no clichéd situations may be except at the climax. I felt that it is may be a tad too mature take as well. The beginning of the movie sets tone for the proceedings to come.

Casting and Performances
Deepika appears really natural as Meera and the casting is perfect in that respect. She completely justifies her selection for the role. Saif is around 50-60% convincing. During the first half it was hard to see him doing this role. He looks aged and the pairing opposite Deepika looks a bit far stretched. But once the second half beings, he really puts in a good performance and covers up. His performance and looks as young Rishi is really good.
The actress who debutes as love interest of young Rishi is very innocent and good looking. She puts in a cute performance. Rishi is competent and Rahul Khanna is ho-hum.

Music
Needless to say that the music by Pritam is top notch. My favorite track was the all encompassing 'Ye Dooriyan'. I really loved its placing in the movie (at the very start) and also the way it shows the entire glimpse of things to come. Cool! 'Main Kya Hoon' is also a nice track. 'Chori Bazari' is fun on the run. 'Twist' was a tad disappointing due to lack of dance sequences. 'Ahun Ahun' was ok as well.

Directors' Delight
The way Imtiaz handles the screenplay is a treat to watch. As the narrative switches between the 2 love stories, old and contemporary the interest is never lost. And at the end, they culminate as one. Its difficult to handle such switching of canvas with such panache. May be in a serious theme like 'Rang De Basanti' its more easier to hold viewer interest, as you switch but Imtiaz does it masterly in a romantic theme. He keeps it simple, realistic and lovable.

Negatives
I feel that the 2 characters are a tad too mature for themselves and even for this age. So the audience may feel a bit disconnected. As the love story is not established in the beginning, the breakup don't empathize you but later the relationship keeps growing on you. Saif's dancing skills need some tuning and he is not fully convincing. The by now clichéd disco number at the end (same as Jab we Met) should have been avoided.

Verdict : 3.5/5 in terms of rating. 'GOOD' in terms of opinion.
Grab a bag of popcorn and hit the movies - You wouldn't wanna miss this one.