It’s not Elastic, or Broken and Happy Hearts, or Breaking Away. Saif Ali Khan’s first home production, until now called just Production No 1, has been christened Love Aaj Kal. The film is helmed by Jab We Met director Imtiaz Ali.
“Contrary to reports, it is not true that I’m not happy with the title,” Imtiaz says, adding that this title is “semi-finalised” but ‘most probably, it will remain”.
He can’t understand why the name of the film, set to release in June, is the subject of such speculation. One reason may be the rumours that the director and his lead star fell out over the choice of a name — Saif apparently wanted something like Jab We Met, a huge critical and commercial success, and Imtiaz had to agree reluctantly. Not quite, says Imtiaz. “I always knew the title was going to be Hinglish, but I had an initial resistance to this title because it is similar to Jab We Met, and this film is not like that at all.”
Naam lock kiya jaaye
The film has managed to remain in the news right from its inception — at first because Imtiaz cast Deepika and not Kareena, his acclaimed heroine in Jab We Met, though Bebo had supposedly suggested his name to Saif. This was followed by Imtiaz telling HT City late last year that casting Deepika was a risk, and then the news that Saif’s bodyguards had allegedly misbehaved with the media in Patiala in October. Also, Saif had sometime ago declared himself the lead actor in Rockstar, supposedly a film by Imtiaz that the latter said he wasn’t even directing.
Naam lock kiya jaaye
The film has managed to remain in the news right from its inception — at first because Imtiaz cast Deepika and not Kareena, his acclaimed heroine in Jab We Met, though Bebo had supposedly suggested his name to Saif. This was followed by Imtiaz telling HT City late last year that casting Deepika was a risk, and then the news that Saif’s bodyguards had allegedly misbehaved with the media in Patiala in October. Also, Saif had sometime ago declared himself the lead actor in Rockstar, supposedly a film by Imtiaz that the latter said he wasn’t even directing.
Love Aaj Kal, a contemporary romance with Saif and Deepika Padukone in the lead, explores how the concept of love changes from the sixties to the present time.