After watching Today We’ll Talk About That Day, there are two reasons we could be feeling underwhelmed. The first is that we have already watched way too many lovers in Bollywood movies struggle through poverty after one person in the couple defies their parents to marry someone “below” their station. This is why we were surprised that Ajeng’s father did not just offer Narendra a blank check. This is such an important part of any such love story, and it simply did not happen. On the other hand, the second reason could be that we have not seen One Day We’ll Talk About That Day, which was released in 2019. Today We’ll Talk About That Day is its prequel, and we don’t have the nostalgia of the other movie affecting this, which is why we have seen it as an independent film, and this is the recap of it.
Spoilers Alert
Ajeng And Narendra’s Love Story
There is something about a love story that starts amid tragic circumstances. It is almost as if the people are able to sense their connection over the sadness within them, and that is either very sweet or very awkward. Ajeng and Narendra meet in the hospital, where the latter has brought his brother, who has been hurt in an accident, and Ajeng is there with her mother, who needs blood. Narendra’s brother, Wilson, passes away due to his injuries, and while he is dealing with the grief of the insensitive formalities, he runs into Ajeng, who is troubled because she is unable to find blood for her mother. Narendra offers to help her, saying that if the Red Cross sees him in his hurt and injured state, they might be more forthcoming with their resources. Narendra’s trick works, and Ajeng’s mother is saved, which gets him some money from her father (though it was not his intention) that helps him safely transport his brother’s body. Ajeng is already engaged to a man, Wirjawan, which makes things awkward almost immediately because he seems to not like the fact that another man is there to help Ajeng.
Either way, once everyone leaves the hospital, Ajeng and Narendra stay in touch, and soon enough, they start dating. Narendra is a hard-working man who is studying engineering, and he has to honor the wishes of his brother, who made sure to send him to college despite all the hardships. As for Ajeng, what she has with Wirjawan is an arranged relationship that she is growing increasingly unhappy about. Ajeng’s mother sees that, and she advocates for her daughter to have some space from her fiance, though that suggestion is immediately shot down by the men.
The fact is that Ajeng’s brother had set out to carve his own path away from his father’s control, which ended in him being disowned. Therefore, his mother bought a house without her husband’s knowledge so that she could give it to him in case her husband never had a change of heart. But her son passed away before he could prove his point, and Lakshmi has kept the house since then, preferably for her daughter. Ajeng is keenly aware of the authoritarian ways of her father, and she will have to marry Wirjawan because of his debt. Mr. Seomitro blames his wife and daughter for being selfish while forcing them to do his bidding, claiming it is for the benefit of the family.
This love story has it all. The approval of the mother, a disapproving fiance who has his goons beat up the boyfriend and a father who places his pride above everything Ajeng is confined to her house, and she is not allowed to meet Narendra, who is also facing some opposition from the people who he considers family. Narendra is very close to graduating, and he is a good enough student that he can take care of finances later on. In the meantime, he and Ajeng elope, but they have to come back when the girl’s mother falls sick. This gives Seomitro a chance to have Narendra arrested for kidnapping, even though that is far from the case.
Luckily, when Ajeng has an honest talk with Wirjawan, he helps her by giving her the bail money and steps back from the relationship himself. Right now, Narendra and Ajeng have nothing else in their way except Seomitro’s pride. They get married and are peacefully living in Lakshmi’s house until Seomitro forces them to leave, saying that it is his family property, and he can do as he pleases. Having no choice, the couple moves back in with Arai, Inah, and Gus, and Narendra starts looking for jobs, though that proves to be very difficult.
Ending Explained: Does Angkasa Reconcile With His Wife?
Patriarchy is not just making Seomitro act irrationally; it is also making Narendra behave in a stupid manner, as he is not ready to take Lakshmi’s help to get a job. We may have said that it has more to do with self-respect, except that Narendra keeps saying that he “wants to take care of his wife.” The women had to put their foot down to make their husbands listen. Lakshmi told Seomitro that she would go to court if he interfered with her house again, and Ajeng had to tell her husband that she would work as well to help the house. This seems to work, and both men calm down a bit. Seomitro steps back, and Narendra and Ajeng join the workforce. They are better settled now, with the money being stable, and Ajeng being pregnant. Within nine months, when she delivers her child, Seomitro finally reconciles with them by putting aside his ego.
Despite the 90s Bollywood cliche of a love story that this was, one would think that it would be an inspiration to the couple’s children, but that is not the case. We only see Angkasa, who we think is Narenda and Ajeng’s eldest son, and he is having marital troubles. He has been living apart from his wife, and he wanted to discuss his problems with his mother, but he is stuck with his father. Ang believes that his wife might be having an affair, and to be honest, it is more his doubt talking than any actual evidence. He is also prone to panic attacks, and we suppose they are better addressed in the 2019 movie. Ang sets off with his father to look for his wife and try to solve his troubles. We really felt like we missed a connection here because it felt like Ang was blaming his troubles on Narendra’s success as a father.
Narendra and Ajeng are a great couple who worked hard so that their children would be free to do whatever they wanted. We did not understand why Ang turned that into a competition for himself. He wanted children, not because he liked them but to prove to his wife that he could be a better father than Narendra. This self-competition he has taken up with Narendra is not making sense to us, and we feel that it might have been better explained in One Day We’ll Talk About That Day. At the end of Today We’ll Talk About That Day, we see that Ang meets his wife, Laki, and they both decide to work on their relationship going forward. They get a call regarding something, which we think has been answered in the sequel.
Final Thoughts
We might have found this story touching if we were not already so inundated with 80s and 90s Bollywood. We are still disappointed by the missing blank check scene, and we will forever doubt Seomitro’s intelligence for not playing that card. At the end of the day, Today We’ll Talk About That Day is a decent watch that fans of the previous movie might enjoy more.
