Words by Deepali Singh
Sara-Kartik: All about Love Aaj Kal
It’s that time of the year when love is in the air again. And who better than the nation’s sweethearts, Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan to talk about all things love Aaj Kal! The lead pair of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s intense, romantic film have an affable charm that shines through. In the midst of all the promotions for their first film together, the young Jodi took time out for a candid conversation for TMM’s 5th-anniversary edition. Raise a glass to love, we say!
What makes this film different from the previous Love Aaj Kal?
Kartik: This is not an extension of the film or a sequel to it. The theme is the same. There are two love stories and four characters. What happens in their journeys and whether they intersect or not is what this film is about. It is a pure love story.
Your off-screen chemistry is something everyone is talking about. Do you think good off-screen chemistry helps portray on-screen chemistry well too?
Sara: Honestly, I don’t think so. Yes, of course, I had more fun because I know him. But I don’t think knowing or not knowing will have anything to do with Zoe or Veer’s characters.
What I will tell you is that love is a journey and filmmaking is a journey. Those journeys coincide. Imtiaz sir is discovering Veer through him and Zoe through me; as I am, as is he. What really helped was workshopping with him, reading with him, understanding how he was responding to his character and mine. I was happy and in a good mental space working with Kartik.
After working with Imtiaz Ali, has the definition of love become sufiana for you?
Kartik: It’s been a life-changing experience to work with Imtiaz sir. Performing two characters – aaj ka Veer aur kal ka Raghu – took me out of my comfort zone. It’s an intense romantic film and a hardcore love story. Imtiaz sir made it easy with all the prep he made us do. From body language to the way they talk, there was a lot of work to be done. The process was a lot of fun.
Sara: Imtiaz sir himself said that love is something you can never fully understand. It’s a journey by itself. As an actor, I’m very new and as a girl, I’m very young. So, for both reasons, my experience has not been much. With Imtiaz sir, I felt I could go through these experiences, which is also the reason I became an actor. We can’t live so many lives but we get to live so many characters.
Sara, did you share any inputs with Imtiaz on how to portray your character, Zoe?
Imtiaz sir is a genius in his own regard and it’s not really my place to give him any inputs. As an actor, I understand the difference between public personality and onscreen personality which are different. What I stand for on social media or as Sara, is not what I have to stand for as an actor. That’s a director’s prerogative because it’s his medium and it’s the writer’s job. I have to go on set with complete conviction and full honesty and portray the character to the best of my ability.
Kartik, it’s said that comedy is probably the hardest part of acting but you have been doing it all so well all this while. How was it to shift to an intense, romantic role?
Even I feel that comedy is the most difficult genre to crack. If your humour goes even a little haywire, nobody will be able to relate to it. Touchwood, I have the relatability and sense of comic timing and I try and get it as right as possible. I also love dramas. I have always wanted to do an intense or romantic role. I get creative satisfaction from it as an actor. Comedy is difficult but romance, too, has its own difficulty levels. You have to say a lot in a few words. At times, your look has to convey everything that you are feeling inside. I hope I keep getting such roles to play. At the moment, to be called Imtiaz Ali sir’s romantic hero is special.
How was it going back to the ’90s?
Kartik: I watched a lot of ’90s films last year and listen to songs from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Maine Pyar Kiya. The environment that Imtiaz sir created in Udaipur where we shot, 
was of the ’90s. There was a lot of method acting. I was behaving like Raghu in real life, talking and walking like him. Raghu is a filmi guy. Even the way he lip-syncs a song is filmi. He doesn’t know how to dance but asks a girl to dance with him in total filmi style. He’s a lion in front of his friends but becomes a mouse in front of the girl! (laughs)
Sara, you have stated that all the trolling of the film did affect you. Expectations are only going to get bigger, how are you going to handle it?
Sara: There will always be expectations, which is good as well as bad. It’s encouraging for me so early on in my career, to realise that there are people who expect something from me. Wherever there is an expectation, there is scope for disappointment but also scope for meeting those 
expectations. That’s the only form of motivation one really knows. So yes, there is a sense of realisation that people expect me to perform. But there are two ways of looking at it. Either I can be disappointed that I have disappointed a handful of people in a certain shot of the trailer or I can take a step back and see the responses to the other shots and songs which have been very positive. I am two films old and if people have expectations from me, it means I might be doing something right. I have had the opportunity and continue to get the opportunity to work with different, learned filmmakers. I hope I keep getting the chance to prove myself to myself first and subsequently to everybody else.
In the age of Tinder and swiping left or right, do you think love aaj kal has changed? Has it also become more complicated for you as actors, whose lives are always under scrutiny?
Sara: Whether it’s comparing today versus 10 years ago or whether you are talking about actors versus non-actors, I think the only thing that changes is the language of expression of love. It’s how you express your love or the freedom with which you express that will change. The duration of how much time you have to sit and talk sweet nothings with your loved ones will change. The basic feeling that governs that emotion will stand the test of time, profession and distance. If it doesn’t – idealistic as it may sound – then it’s not love.
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