Yup. The storylines seem quite similar but director Imtiaz Ali of Kal Aaj Kal isn’t confessing just yet. And he may never do. But here’s the dope anyway.
The gossip is that it’s a straight lift from the Taiwanese film Hao De Shi Guang (Three Times). The film starts in 1911, moves to 1966, and culminates in 2005. The story of Three Times runs on three parallel lines. It features three chronologically separate stories of love between the two protagonists.
In the first two stories, letters are crucial to the outcome. In the third, it is cell phone calls, text messages, and a computer file. Over the years, as sexual intimacy becomes more likely and words more free, communication recedes.
Well, the truth will be out this 26th, but I am not too unconcerned about whether it’s original or a straight lift. All I want is a good story well told. If Imtiaz manages that, I think it’s a job well done. After Jab We Met, I am expecting him to. Will you, Imtiaz?