The film, released on Valentine’s Day 2020, had a budget of Rs 50 crore and earned an estimated Rs 52.6 crore. Ali shouldered full blame for its failure and absolved lead actors Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan of any responsibility.
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Director Imtiaz Ali has publicly described his 2020 film ‘Love Aaj Kal’, starring Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan, as a failed experiment. He made the remarks during a recent interview with Zoom while promoting his upcoming film ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’.
Imtiaz Ali said the film told him it was “a useless experiment because it’s not even a viable project if you don’t want to make it.”
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He also stated that it is “not exciting to do a story for the reason that it’s a commercially viable thing” and called that “a wrong way to start something.” He added that he is not keen to make a sequel “just for the heck of it” unless something is “really pulling” him toward it.
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One of the key revelations from the interview was that ‘Love Aaj Kal 2’ was never intended to be a sequel at all. The director revealed that the film was initially going to be a completely separate project titled ‘Reverse’ before it was a ‘Love Aaj Kal’ series. He stated that connecting it to the original franchise “was not a big service to the film.”
‘Love Aaj Kal’ (2020) is a Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film by Imtiaz Ali. Principal photography began in the first half of March 2019 and ended in July 2019. It released in India on Valentine’s Day 2020.
The film had a budget of Rs 50 crore and earned an estimated Rs 52.6 crore at the box office. The film also features Randeep Hooda and Arushi Sharma in supporting roles.
This film holds a 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 critic reviews, with a 41% audience score. Critics widely panned the film.
In an earlier interview on the YouTube channel Game Changer, Imtiaz had acknowledged the film’s shortcomings. He said one of his primary mistakes was trying to pack too much into the film, which resulted in a narrative that felt heavy-handed. He admitted, “The ease of the film was compromised. It became thick, and people didn’t understand what happened. It seemed like this didn’t come from the heart.”
Imtiaz was also quick to absolve lead actors Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan of any blame, shouldering the responsibility himself.
The original ‘Love Aaj Kal’, starring Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan, received a positive response when it released in 2009. The 2020 version was a spiritual successor to that film, not a direct continuation of the same story or characters.
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