Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali has opened up about the failure of Love Aaj Kal and admitted that the project turned out to be an experiment that did not work the way he had envisioned. The director, who is currently busy promoting his upcoming film Main Vaapas Aaunga, reflected candidly on the challenges he faced while making the 2020 romantic drama starring Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan.
In an interview with Zoom, Imtiaz Ali revealed that he was initially excited about the story but later realised the film may not have needed to be connected to the original Love Aaj Kal franchise at all.
“In Love Aaj Kal 2, I did that because I already had the story, and I was excited about it. It didn’t work is a different matter. Love Aaj Kal 2 also told me that this is a useless experiment because it’s not even a viable project, if you don’t want to make it. Love Aaj Kal 2 was a story in itself. I could have made a different story,” he said.
The filmmaker also shared that he had originally considered naming the film Reverse instead of Love Aaj Kal, but eventually decided to go ahead with the franchise title. According to him, that decision may have negatively affected the audience’s expectations from the film.
“There was a time when I was thinking about making a different story and not calling it Love Aaj Kal 2. I was calling it Reverse. But later on it was decided that maybe it would be better to call it Love Aaj Kal 2, which was not a big service to the film,” Imtiaz stated. He further added, “The fact that it needs to be a commercially viable, profitable project is not what will keep me excited for it for two years.”
Released in 2020, Love Aaj Kal was positioned as a spiritual successor to Imtiaz Ali’s 2009 film of the same name, starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. However, the film received mixed-to-negative reviews upon release.
Interestingly, Sara Ali Khan had also previously spoken about how the film’s failure impacted her confidence as an actor. During an earlier conversation with Bollywood Hungama in 2021, the actress admitted that she was emotionally affected after the film’s reception.
“After 2 weeks of Love Aaj Kal, I was on the sets of Atrangi Re, and my confidence was not that high. Aanand Ji taught me how to be confident, Aanand Ji taught me how to love myself, Aanand Ji taught me how to love my character, Aanand gave me a new chance at a time I most needed it,” Sara had shared.
She further added, “Aanand Ji taught me not to carry the baggage of failure or success with me and be present there at the moment and go out and play on the front foot and do my best.”
Meanwhile, Imtiaz Ali is now focusing on Main Vaapas Aaunga, a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Partition. The film stars Vedang Raina, Sharvari, Diljit Dosanjh, and Naseeruddin Shah in key roles. The film is scheduled to release on June 12.
More Pages: Love Aaj Kal Box Office Collection , Love Aaj Kal Movie Review
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