"People have still not seen my film. So how can they pass judgements? They can decide if Love Aaj Kal is inspired by a foreign film only after seeing it," says a nonchalant and slightly stressed Imtiaz Ali. Speculations are rife that his soon-to-be-released film is inspired by the Taiwanese movie Three Times. Right now the critically acclaimed film-maker is zipping in and out of studios and is inundated with phone calls as part of the promotional activity of the romantic caper.
All about love
Love Aaj Kal sounds almost like a comparative study between contemporary relationships with those of the past. Ali says, "We have grown up listening to love stories in the previous generation. But I always wondered how the same relationships would be in the present. This gave me the idea for Love Aaj Kal." The director who proclaims to be not very "film literate" says, "I see people around me and the kind of lives they lead. That's what inspires me to make movies."
Ali was, however, quite unperturbed by the success of Jab we Met while filming Love Aaj Kal. He says, "It was just another day, another piece of work for me. Honestly, pressure is only as much as you can take."
Character sketch
The director, who has earlier directed successful telly serials like Purushetraa for Zee TV and Imtihaan for Star Plus in mid 90s, was very clear that rather than Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone suited the character of Meera. Despite Saif Ali Khan being the producer of the film, Ali had no pressure to cast Kareena. He says, "The characters of Jai and Meera had certain traits that reflected in Saif and Deepika. So I thought they fit the bill perfectly."
Rest assured, Deepika and Saif will be seen in completely different characters in this film. Ali says, "I have seen all films of Deepika and just couple of Saif's movies. I didn't pay attention to how different they would be in my film. But yes, Deepika is playing a perceptive and intelligent contemporary girl. Of course, Saif is playing a Sardar which he has never played before. Both characters are simple with a sense of reality."
Apart from Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Rishi Kapoor, the movie also marks the debut of English actress Florence Brudenell in Bollywood. Brudenell plays one of Saif Ali Khan's love interests. Ali wanted to cast a new face in the significant role. He managed to rope in Brudenell after a casting agent thought she was a perfect candidate.
Major challenge
Love Aaj Kal has been filmed in real locations at London, San Francisco and Delhi. Ali's main challenge was to shoot real people on real locations. "When you are waiting at San Francisco station, we had to work around thousands of people over there. Not everything was under my control. But I had to mould my work around the given situation."
Future projects
If rumours are to be believed, then the curly-haired film-maker is planning to cast Akshay Kumar in his next venture, he refuses to divulge any details. Ask him why he always makes romantic films and pat comes the reply, "Ask my shrink. Honestly, I don't know!"
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