The three films that Imtiaz Ali has directed so far have a common theme running through them - the protagonists do not realize that they are in love till the very end. In all three the real drama is not in how the lovers meet or fall in love or the peripheral characters (like family or friends). It is about realization. That he does it successfully third time in a row probably tells that Imtiaz Ali either feels very strongly about the concept or that he has had some real life experience of his own.
Love Aajkal starts with Jai (Saif) and Meera (Deepika) breaking up. They are apparently very practical about their relationship and plan it such that it goes along with their other plans for life. Only that life, as always, has plans of its own. The more time they spend away from each other, the more they realize they are meant to be together. To catalyze the Jai's end of the realization process we have an amiable old café owner, Veer (Rishi Kapoor). Veer's love story in flashback is a parallel track to Jai-Meera's. Both the stories run juxtaposed with each other to a predictable but nevertheless heart warming climax.
Saif plays both Jai and the young Veer. He is top notch in both roles. Flambouyance comes naturally to him when he plays Jai and he is very convincing as the rugged and (at times) clumsy Veer. Deepika is at ease in the role of Meera. It seems as if she is playing herself. At the dramatic scenes, however, like the one immediately after her marriage where she is impatient to talk to Jai, and the scene following that when she is talking to Jai over the phone, she betrays that she still needs to learn the ropes. She looks stunning in every frame. Perfect foil to the glamorous Meera is the docile and beautiful Harleen. She is pretty as a picture, though she hardly speaks in the entire film.
Imtiaz Ali is an inspired director. He knows his characters and his story. He is more focused on technique this time, compared to Jab We Met or Socha Na Tha. I guess that is because he was aware that he has a weaker story in hand. He handles the two tracks brilliantly, managing to keep both engaging. His editor delivers the goods for him to achieve that. A noteworthy good work by the editor is the sequence at the beginning where we see the cast and crew credits. It is a collage of scenes from the complete film.
The songs go well with the film (though with Pritam, I don't know how much of it is original). The background score could have been more imaginative.
Love Aajkal is easily the best romantic comedy of the year so far. Worth watching.
