Film
Love Aaj Kal
Other titles called Love Aaj Kal: the 2009 film.
A dual-timeline romance contrasting a 1990s love story with a contemporary couple navigating career pressure and emotional distance. Director Imtiaz Ali explores whether love has become harder or we've simply become more afraid of it. Lush, nostalgic, occasionally frustrating—best for viewers who like their romance complicated and their cinematography gorgeous.
If you liked this
Tamasha2015
Ali's most emotionally raw work: a man and woman fall hard, then reality intrudes. It shares Love Aaj Kal's fascination with how ambition and identity corrode romance, with a far more daring ending.
But Slow-burn melancholy that doesn't offer easy comfort. Some find it self-indulgent rather than profound.

Jab We Met2007
The gold standard of modern Hindi romance. Two damaged people, a train journey, and genuine chemistry that makes their connection feel earned. Utterly absorbing from start to finish.
But The second half softens into something more conventional. If you want uncompromising, look elsewhere.

Highway2014
Another Imtiaz Ali gem: raw, sensual, psychologically complex. A woman finds freedom in the worst circumstances. The relationship that forms is nothing like typical romance, and that's exactly why it matters.
But Emotionally abrasive and deeply unsettling. Not designed to make you feel good about love.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Love Aaj Kal
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Before Sunrise1995
Both films build meaning through extended timeframes and parallel timelines to examine whether love has changed. Before Sunrise answers through intimacy; Love Aaj Kal answers through distance. They're opposite arguments.
Richard Linklater and two actors improvising a single conversation across Vienna. No plot, no dramatic turning points—just two people discovering each other in real time. It's what romantic connection actually feels like: talk, vulnerability, the terror of connection.
But Structurally radical. If you're expecting a story arc or a kiss, you'll be frustrated. Some find it unbearably slow.

More like this (8)
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil2016
Karan Johar's most grown-up film: unrequited love, friendship, mortality, and the messy gap between what we want and what we deserve. Ranveer Singh is phenomenal.
But Slow, indulgent, sometimes pretentious. The runtime doesn't always justify itself.

Raees2017
Shah Rukh Khan in a completely different register—a crime drama with genuine stakes. If you're tired of romance as the centre of everything, this reminds you what else cinema can do.
But It's not a romance at all. You're watching for plot, not for dreamy montages.

Dil Se..1998
Mani Ratnam's fever dream of a film: a journalist falls for a woman carrying a terrible secret. Visual poetry, A.R. Rahman's best score, and love as something genuinely dangerous and strange.
But Narratively confusing and emotionally exhausting. Some sequences feel more like art installation than story.

Article 152019
Ayushmann Khurrana in a searing police procedural about caste violence. A complete tonal shift—proof that romance isn't cinema's only honest register.
But Brutal subject matter. This is anger, not entertainment.

Rang De Basanti2006
A sprawling ensemble film about friendship, purpose, and how love fits into a life with meaning. Aamir Khan and Soha Ali Khan crackle together; the whole film crackles.
But Wildly uneven tonal control. The shift from romance to thriller is sometimes clumsy.

Kabali2016
Rajinikanth returns from prison to take on a criminal empire. Pure, operatic pulp cinema. If you need palette cleansing from introspection, this is your film.
But Aggressively silly in ways that don't always land. Tamil cinema's brand of melodrama won't appeal to everyone.

Her2013
Both films use speculative framing—dual timelines, unusual premise—to ask the same question: has love become impossible for us, or have we made it impossible? Her says we broke it. Love Aaj Kal suggests we're just scared.
A man falls in love with an AI. Spike Jonze created the most honest film about loneliness, connection, and why we need other people. Visually beautiful, emotionally devastating, and structurally fearless.
But Science-fiction premise that some find gimmicky. The emotional gut-punch won't work for everyone.

The Farewell2019
Love Aaj Kal uses two eras to ask what's changed. The Farewell uses two cultures to ask the same thing: whether love means honesty or protection, whether connection requires total transparency. Both films sit with the discomfort rather than resolve it.
Lulu Wang's film about a Chinese-American family keeping a terminal diagnosis secret. It's a romance with family as the protagonist. Funny, tender, cross-cultural, and structured around secrets and what we choose not to say to people we love.
But Quieter than expected. If you're looking for emotional catharsis, it withholds rather than delivers. Subtitled.

People
Cast
Kartik AaryanVeer

Arushi SharmaLeena
R. Bhakti KleinSander Jennings
Directing
- Jehan HandaAssistant Director
- Imtiaz AliDirector
- Vishal MundraFirst Assistant Director
- Imtiaz AliScript Supervisor
- Sanjay Kumar DaryaniSecond Assistant Director
Writing
- Irshad KamilLyricist
- Imtiaz AliScreenplay
- Imtiaz AliStory
Production
- Mohit ChoudharyAssociate Producer
- Devendra N. PatelCasting Assistant
- Saurabh PalCasting Associate
- Mukesh ChhabraCasting Director
- Rajesh SharmaExecutive Producer
- Himanshu GuptaExtras Casting
- Dinesh VijanProducer
- Imtiaz AliProducer
- Santoshri SinghProduction Executive