| Love Aaj Kal | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Imtiaz Ali |
| Produced by | Saif Ali Khan Dinesh Vijan |
| Starring | Saif Ali Khan Deepika Padukone Rishi Kapoor Giselli Monteiro |
| Music by | Songs: Pritam Background Score: Salim-Sulaiman |
| Cinematography | Natarajan Subramaniam |
| Editing by | Aarti Bajaj |
| Distributed by | Eros Entertainment Illuminati Films |
| Release date(s) | 31 July 2009 |
| Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | 119 crore (US$22.61 million) (Worldwide) [1] |
Love Aaj Kal (Hindi: लव आज कल, English translation: "Love These Days") is a 2009 Bollywood film starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles[2] with Rahul Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Giselli Monteiro in supporting roles.[3] The film is directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan. The film portrays the feeling of pure love which never changes over time (Love "now" and "then"), although the perspective of realizing one's soulmate has changed over time. Although there was a lot of pre-release speculation[4] that the film was a remake of the 2005 Taiwanese film, Three Times, post-release reviews have proven that this is not the case.[5] This film was remade into Telugu as Theenmaar with Pawan Kalyan and Trisha Krishnan in lead roles.[6]
Contents |
Jai and Meera are a modern-day couple living in England. They are happy with each other, but do not believe in tying each other down so, when career beckons, they have a mutual break-up, but decide to remain friends. Meera goes to India, while Jai stays in England, hoping to be called to San Francisco, where working at the Golden Gate is his dream job. Jai begins to date a blonde called Jo, while Meera returns the feeling of her boss, Vikram. The couple believe they have moved on.
Running side-by-side, but in a different time, is the tale of Veer Singh. A great believer of love, the Sikh narrates his love story to Jai to try to convince him not to let Meera go to India. He tells how he fell for a girl called Harleen, who moved to Calcutta. He traveled a thousand miles, by train, only to see her face. He also explains how things were different, and the couples then had a lot more respect for each other.
Jai ridicules Veer, who vowed to marry Harleen even before he had gotten to talk to her. But, on Veer's insistence, the young man concedes to pay Meera a surprise visit. Meera is stunned, and the two lie to both Jo and Vikram to have some fun together. They go out as friends, and realize how much they still like each other's company. On the day Jai is to leave, Vikram proposes to Meera. She meets Jai secretly, who tells her she should take a decision after thinking. Angry, Meera tells him to leave her, and also says that they can no longer have any contact 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 surprised on Meera's wedding , and tells her nothing can be done now. He goes back, and gets his dream job in San Francisco the same day Meera realizes her marriage is a mistake. She tells Vikram the truth and calls Jai, but he tells her about the Golden Gate before she can tell him what is on her mind. Realizing he is going to San Francisco, she tells him nothing but returns to Vikram's house, dejected. Parallel to this, Veer Singh declares his intentions of marrying Harleen but is badly beaten by her family.
Jai slowly begins to lose interest in his "dream job" and is beaten badly 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 the day that he, Jai, had told her about his job in San Francisco. In the past storyline, Veer Singh 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 Singh secretly sneak out with her daughter, and the two marry to have a happily ever after. In the present, Jai goes to Meera's work, at the Old Fort, and they have a heart-touching reunion. The movie shows how, despite the time differences, love is essentially still the same.
In the end, the song Aahun Aahun is played in the theme of Aam Janta (Hindi: आम जनता;meaning "common man') and Pratigya, in which Veer Singh represents Pratigya, while Jai represents Aam Janta. Each shows his different way of love, but both conclude that love has never changed. It shows that, even though, people these days try to make themselves believe that love is just an infatuation that goes away with time and that there is no such thing as "true love" or "soulmate", in their hearts they still love each other with that passion.
The shooting of the film started on May 2008[2] and took place in the railway station of Patiala, Red Fort, Purana Qila and on the streets of Delhi. Parts have been shot in London, San Francisco, and Kolkata .[7] The film wasn't given a name until January 2009, after shooting was complete.[8]
The producers of the film inked marketing tie-ups with 2009 ICC World Twenty20, Shoppers Stop and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance.[9] The apparel worn by the lead cast is exclusively available at Shoppers Stop. With Bajaj Allianz they have a tie up to share the special moments where they could win a chance to meet Saif Ali Khan, the protagonist and the producer of the movie. The tie up with ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009 was that both Deepika and Saif will be in England before the tournament begins, with Saif expected to commentate on matches for Indian television.[10]
Love Aaj Kal proved to be a smash hit grossing over Rs. 63 crores in India and abroad. Of this, 47 crores were from the Indian market and the rest from the worldwide release including the United Kingdom, Pakistan and Australia.[11] Love Aaj Kal released across 1,800-plus screens worldwide on 31 July 2009 with one of the highest number of daily shows across multiplexes. It has done exceedingly well in multiplex cinemas as compared to single screens. The film did steady business in its first week run, has been declared a super hit[12][13][14] and the second highest grossing film in 2009, just behind the Aamir Khan starrer, 3 Idiots and just above Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor starrer Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.
The film grossed $1.24m at the North American and Canadian box offices during the opening weekend and went on to gross $2,430,083 in the US market and $18.3m from other territories including $16.1m from Indian markets for a worldwide total of $20,792,532.[15]
| Love Aaj Kal | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Pritam | |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 45:59 |
| Label | Eros Music |
| Producer | Pritam |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Bollywood Hungama | [16] |
| Rediff | [17] |
The music of Love Aaj Kal is composed by Pritam with lyrics penned by Irshad Kamil.The music of the film generally received good reviews.
The song "Yeh Dooriyan" by Mohit Chauhan was very well applauded.
The album is new age — delving into the past to come up with a retro feel but at the same time sounding very modern and very today.[18] The music was digitally distributed by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
The album earned Pritam his first IIFA Best Music Director Award.
| Tracklist [19] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Twist" | Neeraj Shridhar | 4:01 | ||||||
| 2. | "Chor Bazaari" | Neeraj Shridhar, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:19 | ||||||
| 3. | "Aahun Aahun" | Neeraj Shridhar, Master Saleem, Suzanne D'Mello | 4:45 | ||||||
| 4. | "Yeh Dooriyan" | Mohit Chauhan | 5:36 | ||||||
| 5. | "Aaj Din Chadheya" | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan | 5:17 | ||||||
| 6. | "Thoda Thoda Pyaar" | Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:04 | ||||||
| 7. | "Main Kya Hoon" | KK | 5:48 | ||||||
| 8. | "Twist (Remix by DJ Sanj)" | Neeraj Shridhar | 4:04 | ||||||
| 9. | "Chor Bazaari (Remix by DJ Sanj)" | Neeraj Shridhar, Sunidhi Chauhan | 3:50 | ||||||
| 10. | "Aahun Aahun (Remix by DJ Sanj)" | Neeraj Shridhar, Master Saleem, Suzanne D'Mello | 4:36 | ||||||
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