Love Aaj Kal

After the success of films like Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste, Saif Ali Khan seems to have discovered a safe (pardon the pun) formula for a hit film as he continues his explorations into the confusions and complexities of modern love and relationships with Love Aaj Kal.

While Salaam Namaste exposed a conservative Indian audience to the realities of premarital sex and pregnancy and Hum Tum depicted friendship as the basis for an abiding love, Love Aaj Kal contrasts contemporary love of with the innocent devotion of a bygone age.

London-based Meera (Deepika Padukone) is a gorgeous girl with her wits about her and aspirations to pursue a career working in India on the restoration of ancient monuments. Jai (Saif Ali Khan) is the ultra-cool city boy, slightly slow on the uptake and with his sights set on a career at the prestigious Golden Gate Bridge Inc in San Francisco. Love happens in an instant and endures, at least until the two are faced with the decision to pursue their respective career aspirations which will leave them oceans apart.

Accepting the impracticalities of a long distance relationship they happily agree to a break up and quickly move on with their lives. In their world, love is disposable and easily replaceable, or so it seems. As London-based caf?© owner Veer Singh, (Rishi Kapoor) explains, it's a far cry from the days when love was born of coy exchanges from afar and long lingering gazes.

Love Aaj Kal provides a revealing snapshot into the lives of young modern Asians, a world where love occurs on the dance floor and is consummated before you have even discovered one another's names, where a relationship is sacrificed at the altar of ambition, and the end of a relationship is marked with a break up party. Meanwhile ex-lovers stay friends, readily announcing to the one time object of their affections, the advent of a new love.

It's the kind of insight that may leave parents of a certain age flabbergasted and it is this viewpoint that is represented in the perspective of the elder Veer Singh, and his portrait of a tender love from another age where honour and humility were the order of the day.

In spanning the experiences of two generations the film will strike a chord with young and old alike. Flitting between the present age and a distant past, the story is recounted seamlessly as Jai's experiences are directly juxtaposed with Veer Singh's own story. Khan portrays both the characters of the past and present, lending a poignancy to the film's story. He manages to capture the essence of each character, contrasting the silent stoicism of Veer Singh with the brash indifference and impudence of Jai. Having found a niche in biting wit and bringing his own inimitable brand of cool to Bollywood, the young nawab proves time and again that he can do it all. While he is the essence of the hip and handsome lad about town, he manages to invest his character with real depth. In an emotive scene when Jai confronts Meera as she prepares to marry someone else, he captures the turmoil of the man in denial of his feelings whose truth pours out despite himself, and which is as quickly quashed. His gradual unravelling is inventively portrayed in the course of a single song as the trappings of success fall away to reveal the gaping void in his life.

Deepika Padukone was the perfect choice as the self-assured and sassy Meera. Only six films into her career, the former model delivers a natural and seemingly effortless performance that would be a far cry for many of her more seasoned contemporaries. While her beauty is unmistakable she succeeds in maintaining an air of dignity, charming both the audience and her suitors throughout. Despite the candid portrait of love, there is not a hint of the kind of blatant exhibitionism that is increasingly commonplace in Indian cinema. Giselle Monteiro, meanwhile, is suitably demure and a picture of innocence as the gawky Harleen Kaur. Rishi Kapoor too is well cast as the aging Veer Singh, recalling the love of his youth.

The terrific cinematography captures the disparity between the eras, the modern age marked with snappy images, a glossy sheen and vibrant colour while the images of the past bear a softer tone, with long langorous shots and sweeping camera movements. While the concept and story are central to the film's appeal and effective execution is key, the script too is taut and well constructed. At times there is a sense that the film perhaps lacks the lustre of Hum Tum with its non-stop repartee, but Love Aaj Kal boasts a subtlety and a crafting of character that does not resort to age-old cliches. Indeed, it would have been easy to succumb to Indian cinema stand-bys incorporating a melodious lament on lost love, or an overblown climax, but Love Aaj Kal is invested instead with a rare subtlety that renders a necessary realism to the performances. Of course, the conventions of Bollywood prevail in the song sequences and the infectious 'We Twist' conjures up the mood and sentiment of the moment, while the rest of the soundtrack blends into the canvas of the film almost imperceptibly.

Unlike many films which are quick to decry the youth of today for their frivolous conduct and lack of morality, Love Aaj Kal endeavors to explore the differing methods of courtship without passing judgement, and acknowledges that even in these changing times, while the path to love may be different, the nature of love itself is unchanged. Ultimately, true love, however you dress it up, is enduring and will overcome all obstacles.