Kaminey (Scoundrels)'

Runtime: 134 min 54 secs
Tagline: Dhan Te Nan
Language: Hindi (with English subtitles)
Written & Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj

As I did with Love Aaj Kal, I'll say a little about inspirations & plagiarism. Vishal Bhardwaj is a name people associate with Maqbool (an Indian representation of Shakespeare's Macbeth) and more recently Omkara (this time he chose Othello), in neither case would people accuse of plaigarism a) considering it's Shakspeare, b) because openly admitted and c) because these were both exceptional films that he really made his own.

This time no films were named as being the 'inspiration' for this film & with good reason I would say. Why? Because Vishal Bhardwaj tells us openly in an interview about it. When I read that he'd basically bought the idea from a film student, I was pretty impressed. There was only 1 thing missing, the name of this inspiration. I'll add here that the film opens with: "Based on an idea by Cajetan Boy". Full credit given where it should be. All-respect & thumbs up from me!

So the film.. the trailers just hadn't given us much to go on. We knew that it was a crime caper & the fact that it would be focused on a number of colourful yet shady characters, beyond this all we knew was that the background score would rock. They were either very smart not to reveal much about the story, or it was intentional. I must admit I took this quite apprehensively. I tweeted on Wednesday that: "considering the trailer gives us nothing beyond a feel of theme & Dhan Te Naa.. I'm irrationally excited to see it." but I had concerns that perhaps it didn't have a decent story, or it hadn't turned out too well so they were covering it up, thankfully I was wrong.

Love Aaj Kal'

Runtime: 128 min 0 secs
Tagline: Pick your choice: Black Coffee or Kali Chai?
Language: Hindi (with English subtitles)
Written & Directed by: Imtiaz Ali

Our easily misled people often without even collecting the facts, spot similarities between films & jump to the conclusion that this is a simple case of plagiarism. They can't be blamed entirely, as there are many such cases of almost scene by scene rips out there.

SInce watching Love Aaj Kal last night, this morning before writing it up I decided to watch Zui hao de shi guang (Three Times). This is the Taiwanese film that people connected to Love Aaj Kal as a possible re-make, inspiration, rip, whatever you want to call it. This way I could confirm / deny the given accusation.

Having seen both now, I'll share my thoughts: Three Times contains 3 stories set in three times 1966, 1911 and 2005 respectively. The two actors who play the main characters who fall in love in each story are kept consistent in all three segments, beyond this the stories themselves are pretty independent in their content, though certain themes, communications in particular are kept in focus.

Love Aaj Kal contains 2 stories set in 2 eras (1965 - the year of birth of King Khan I might add) and (2009), but it connects them both quite methodically. It's an old man (Rishi Kapoor) advising a young man (Saif Ali Khan) by telling his story with the flashbacks of the old man also played by (Saif Ali Khan) the same actor as the young man. Similarities end there really. Comparing the films is almost like saying all films of a genre are the same. If inspired by it at all I could only say the concepts have some common ground.

Around this concept there's one large factor in common, but again it's so general that I can't really pin it as theft & that is how communication between couples seems to have receded even though we are actually more 'free' to communicate in the current age. I think this is the poignant message that both films try to convey.

Brief thoughts on Three Times:
Segment (1966) - A Time for Love - This one held most charm, a simple story, executed to perfection. A man who has to fulfil his civic duty and enrol with the military. He meets a girl at a pool hall and decides to stay in touch through letters and beyond.
Segment (1911) - A Time for Freedom - Done like a film of the silent era, with music & inter-title captions. I can see what they were trying to do, but it just didn't connect with me. It's the relationship of a courtesan singer seeking an escape and a regular client at the brothel.
Segment (2005) - A Time for Youth - This didn't work for me either. A girl struggling with epilepsy tries to find love as she is conflicted between her girlfriend and a photographer that she's having an affair with.

Frankly, though it works well in showing contrasts in times, overall Three Times just didn't click with me beyond the 1st segment, which I thought was a sweet little story. I think the film has it's audience, but those like myself checking it out with Love Aaj Kal being the film that led them here will probably be disappointed. It's a whole different flavour of film.

Okay, over to the main event that brought you here ... #LoveAajKal