One-sided love. Friendzoned. We all have gone through these phases in our lives. Many films have tackled with this theme but Ae Dil Hai Mushkil stands out. There’s a highly relatable quality that makes it very endearing. The entertaining and touching moments coupled with splendid performances make Ae Dil Hai Mushkil a must watch fare!
The story of the movie: Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) meets Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) and he falls for her. Sadly for him, it turns out to be one-sided love affair. Alizeh is still in love with Ali (Fawad Khan) who at one point had ditched her. Things go from bad to worse between Ayan and Alizeh as well. That’s when Saba (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) enters Ayan’s life. Both get attracted to each other. Yet, things are not as happy as it should be for Ayan.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil begins on a very mysterious note. There’s plenty of fun and humour in the beginning portions as Ayan and Alizeh get introduced to each other. Their banter and conversations make for a great watch. The France trip episode is very entertaining and the manner in which it suddenly turns moving is superb. The 10 minutes just before the intermission is probably the best part of the film. Post-interval, the film does drop as the moments are not as interesting as in the first half. But nevertheless, Ayan-Saba’s love story too has it’s charm. There are a few unconvincing moments in the middle but the film picks up in the pre-climax. In fact, there’s a major twist towards the end that works well. The climax and the final scene is extremely touching.
Performance-wise, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil belongs to all 3 main actors. Ranbir Kapoor once again delivers a bravura performance. He understands his character and does very well. What’s also important to note that Ayan is not a regular Bollywood hero. He’s slightly different in his way of expressing emotions and even body language at places. But Ranbir carries it off very well. It doesn’t look too awkward even for a moment. One doesn’t expect a mediocre or even average performance from Ranbir and in that regard, he satisfies thoroughly! Anushka Sharma is marvelous. She’s the ‘jaan’ of this film – one can’t take eyes off her when she creates madness and fun in the first half. Also, in the emotional moments, she is first-rate. Both Ranbir-Anushka look splendid together. The chemistry is great – it was not even half electrifying in Bombay Velvet! Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks like a million bucks and charms her way through her adah and shayaris! She unfortunately doesn’t have a lengthy role but she leaves a huge mark! Fawad Khan looks dashing as always. Again, he hardly has anything to do in the film but is quite nice. Imran Abbas (Faisal) is strictly okay in the cameo appearance. Lisa Haydon (Lisa) is extremely funny. Alia Bhatt is wasted while Shah Rukh Khan is quite nice. But he could have done much better
Pritam Chakraborty’s music is one of the best this year! The best song of the lot surprisingly is not the title song but Channa Mereya. Then comes the title song followed by Bulleya, The Breakup Song and Cutiepie. His background score too is quite interesting. A lot of reworked versions of old Hindi songs have been used in the film and it’s well incorporated and utilized. Samidha Wangnoo, Anaita Shroff Adajania and Manish Malhotra’s costumes are appealing and classy. A Karan Johar film is also worth watching for it’s costumes and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is no exception. Anil Mehta’s cinematography is neat and simple. Karan Johar and Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues are filmy and look slightly out of place initially. But once one gets used to it, it makes for a great watch. Karan Johar’s story does remind one of similar such films attempted in the past but it has a fresh take. His screenplay is topnotch. His direction is brilliant in the first half but drops at places in the second half. But he picks it up again in the last 20 minutes. He doesn’t go overboard in the climax and this is very important since there have been a few films that have shown similar sequence in it’s finale. Karan treats it and even writes it beautifully. Also, the character of Ayan is well sketched and presented – it is different, it is real and it is touching.
Some of the best scenes:
1. Ayan-Alizeh’s first meeting
2. The double date scene
3. Ayan cries on the streets
4. Lisa goes away
5.The France episiode
6. All songs of the film
7. The intermission point
8. Ayan-Saba’s love affair
9. Saba-Alizeh meet and the scene after
10. The last 15 minutes
On the whole, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is a highly entertaining and touching saga. The storyline does remind one of similar films but the script and treatment is quite fresh. Ranbir-Anushka’s chemistry is rocking and that’s also something that makes the film all the more exciting. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is extremely charming and makes a huge impact in a supporting role. Songs too take the film to a great height. Despite the few rough edges, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil should work and bring audiences in hordes to theatres!
My rating – **** out of 5!