The comfort-level between Kartik Aryan and Sara Ali Khan in Love Aaj Kal is being talked about everywhere. At promotional events he can be seen feeding her with his own hands, carrying her in his arms, pampering her, laughing at her (bad) jokes…Whether they are a real-life pair or not is not the point. They LOOK comfortable with one another and that’s a push up for Kartik who has never looked comfortable with his co-stars. Here’s a lowdown.
1. Nushrat Bharucha: From the 10 films Kartik has done so far, 4 have been with Nushrat Bharucha, and in none of them did they look comfortable together. There is a reason for this. In all the films Kartik did with Nushrat Pyar Ka Punchnaama, its sequel, Akash Vani and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Kartik was at loggerheads with Nushrat. In the two Punchnaama films she bullied him mercilessly, In Akash Vani, she married another man and lived to regret it. And In Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety Kartik and Nushrat fought over Sunny Singh. Ha ha.
2. Meher Mistry: Bet you didn’t know that Kartik Aryan featured as a young Muslim tailor secretly in love with a lonely wife in a short film in 2015 entitled Silvat directed by Tanuja Chandra.? Again this was a film about the absence of love. Not even a cuddle with his co-star Meher Mistry.
3. Kriti Sanon: This was the first time Kartik got a chance to display some genuine chemistry with a co-star, the first time when he kissed and cuddled and did other cute lover’s things with a co-star. I saw more chemistry between Kartik and Kriti than I had seen between Kriti and Sushant Singh Rajput when they paired screen in the disastrous Raabta during their real-life affair.
4. Ananya Panday: Pati Patni Aur Woh had no real chemistry between Kartik and his two heroines. He seemed too much in awe of both his co-stars. Was that the way the script had been written? I saw Kartik sharing more kinship with Aparshakti Khurrana than with either Ananya Pandey and Bhumi Padnekar.
5. Sara Ali Khan: Love Aaj Kal is the first film where Kartik is shown to be a demonstrative lover boy and not a bickering boyfriend who can’t hold on to his dreams. There is no holding back here. No coyness. The lovers are at each other constantly cuddling and bickering. No wonder this on-screen relationship felt more real to Kartik than anything he has done so far.