Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; February 12, 2020)

Arushi Sharma, who was last seen in Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha (2015), will reunite with the director in his upcoming romance, Love Aaj Kal. The movie, starring Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan in the lead, showcases two love stories — one set in the 90s in Udaipur and the other, set in modern-day Delhi. Arushi plays Kartik’s love interest in the former.

Interestingly, the first scene that she shot for the film required her to deliver a monologue. That,too, in the presence of Kartik, who is known for his monologue in the Pyaar Ka Punchnama series. She recalls, “I was nervous, as I had to deliver a monologue with an actor, who is known for his monologue skills. I felt that I won’t be able to remember my lines, but he made me comfortable and helped me perfect the scene.”

Ask her why she took a break after Tamasha and Arushi says that she gave several auditions for other filmmakers, but was rejected. And then, she received a call from Imtiaz’s team for this film. Talking about her first meeting with the filmmaker, the Shimla girl says, “The first time I met Imtiaz sir was when he had come to my college for a recce. He then approached me for Tamasha, and during the course of the shoot, I realised that I wanted to pursue acting. However, I did not want to quit engineering and so, I continued with my studies and would come to Mumbai only for auditions. With my second film, I feel like I am living a dream. I hope people love and appreciate my work.”

About her experience of working with Imtiaz and Kartik, Arushi shares, “I love the way Imtiaz sir improvises a scene. The scene that comes to my mind is the one shown in the trailer — Kartik and I are at a fort and a security guard is rude to us. Imtiaz sir suggested a lot of on-the-spot changes to that scene. In the movie, Kartik and I portray the couple from ‘kal’ and their chemistry is very different from the lovers of ‘aaj’. That kind of romance doesn’t exist anymore; love is more practical these days. I am sure Imtiaz sir would have romanced in a similar way (laughs!). As far as Kartik is concerned, I am thankful to him for making me comfortable on the sets. He helped me understand the technicalities and pushed me to do better. I shot with Kartik for a month and he has been a very supportive and caring co-star.”

Jio Studios, Dinesh Vijan and Reliance Entertainment present Love Aaj Kal, a Window Seat Films and Maddock Films production. It releases worldwide on February 14.