Only a few Hindi filmmakers inspire the kind of loyalty and scrutiny that Imtiaz Ali does. Recently, after a trailer of Love Aaj Kal released, cinephiles took to social media. On Twitter, Samrat Singh said the writer-director “is creating the Marvel Universe of f**kbois [sic]”. Another posted screenshots from the trailer and compared it to similar moments from Ali’s earlier film, Tamasha. A third one noticed how the background graffiti spoke volumes. It read, ‘Don’t touch my soul with dirty hands’. Ali, for his part, says, “It is actually quite enchanting that somebody pays that much attention to things that are important to me subconsciously.” The writer-director is also aware that not all of the commentary will be positive or something he agrees with. “Cinema is at its best when taken personally,” he feels.
Ali enjoys a reputation of being the go-to filmmaker for contemporary romances. Love Aaj Kal, his upcoming Valentine’s Day release, is the first time Ali is getting into the franchise business. The film has the same name and format as its 2009 predecessor-two love stories unfolding in two different periods. Here, the present-day story unfolds in Delhi and focuses on Veer (Kartik Aaryan) and Zoe (Sara Ali Khan). The 1990s one is an Udaipur-set high-school romance between Raghu (Aaryan) and Leena (Arushi Sharma). The new Love Aaj Kal, says Ali, is an attempt to look at love in the age of Tinder: “There is greater ease in communication, there are so many impulses and messages that reach them every second today. There is, therefore, a lot of noise which does not make a person’s life fuller. The term in Hindi is ‘bheed mein akela’. This generation tends to be lonelier, more in search of companionship and emotional intimacy.” Veer, according to Ali, personifies this feeling.
For Ali, the essence of romance has changed in the decade since his first Love Aaj Kal. In a press release, he said that ‘the parameters of physical intimacy change, the dos and don’ts change, but that which is precious, which people look for when they get together with someone, that remains the same’. But what, specifically, is that precious something? “A mixture of many things-companionship, belonging, relief and purpose,” he says. The biggest difference he observes in relationships today is in their intimacy: “Twenty years back, it couldn’t be comprehended that you can have physical intimacy without emotional intimacy. Now it can.”
A statement made by his teenage daughter, Ida, struck a chord with the filmmaker. It would become what he says is “the basis of the style of storytelling of Love Aaj Kal”. She had said, “My father did not tell me how to live my life. He just lived his own life and let me see.” This brought a sense of responsibility in Ali, the single parent. “At this age, I see things differently from my daughter, but not everything can pass down to her by just words,” he says. “There are certain things that she will have to experience to understand what I meant.” Ali makes Sara’s character embark on just such a journey and have a better understanding of an older romance.
Love Aaj Kal’s press release began with five questions that all pertained to the interpretation of love. The last one stands out-“Is it even possible to be in one relationship forever?” What does Ali, the creator of Jab We Met, one of Hindi cinema’s most beloved love stories, think? “If I had the answer, then I wouldn’t be thinking about it and definitely not making films about it,” says Ali. “I am also wondering and trying to decipher it for myself.” Ali, it’s clear, has always thrived in not knowing.
read the full story about Ali’s Forty Rules of Love
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