Movie Review: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Score: 3/5
Thankfully Diwali is upon us and the movie that has gathered a storm is finally out. Karan Johar has rightly called the movie “Ae Film Hai Mushkil” in an interview with Anupama Chopra for her series Beneath the Surface.
The movie became a focal point of the recent debacle about cross-border collaboration between Bollywood and stars from Pakistan — stemming from the pseudo surgical strike by India over its neighbour.
It seems that Dharma Productions was under a lot of pressure — the fact that they had to voice their support for the Indian Army at the beginning of the movie serves as a testimony.
The movie itself lacks K Jo’s magic. From the first frame onwards, it is devoid of the depth that the director-extraordinaire is known for. The film in its entirety feels like three different pieces of cloth sewn together.
The first piece
It starts with the interview of Ranbir Kapoor (read: Ayan Sanger) who is a famous singer. Over the last five years, Ayan has doled out a few hit songs and the interviewer credits it to a certain Saba Taliyar Khan (later revealed as Aishwarya Rai). With a constipated dialogue delivery, Ayan goes on to talk about his bond with Saba. This is where the interviewer interjects and suggests that his songs narrate the tale of unrequited love, where Ayan, hopelessly trying to sound Sufi, says that his love is rather kaamil (meaning: complete).
The scene then cuts back to a flashback of London the night Ayan meets Alizeh Khan (Anuskha Sharma). In the most clichéd of meet-ups, it happens at a club! In a scenario which seems to be borrowed from the movie What Happens in Vegas, they become the best of friends in a single night.
With hardly any character building, this unusual pace of human emotions is seen uniformly throughout the film. And of course, it is forcefully laden with dialogues from the director’s previous movies — a signature move from K Jo every time.
Surprisingly, the first part is dotted with Fawad Khan’s (named Ali) rather incredulous appearance. There is a lot of alacrity from the moment of his arrival to the point where he gets married to Alizeh. The speed is so fast that two of the movie’s songs happen back to back, without the beat breaking. And thus, we are through to our second part.
The second shred
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Ayan rushes to the airport (in a Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani manner) to avoid seeing Alizeh from getting married. This is where he stumbles upon Saba in the same superficial way he had met Alizeh back in London. She is a poetess who instantly becomes a therapist to Ayan and gives him a psychological session en route to Dubai.
The session, alone was enough for Saba to hand out not just her number to Ayan — but also the rights to her poetry as the story progresses. This is the initiation of their short-lived romance. The bond is a complete mismatch, since Saba is mature enough to look like a mother and converses in Urdu poetry. Ayan, on the other hand, is still an immature kid in the relationship. With more failed-mysticism in this part, it drags on until Alizeh reenters Ayan’s life, following a lesson on the intensity of unrequited love from Saba’s former husband Tahir Taliyar Khan (played by Shah Rukh Khan).
Alizeh now comes attached with DJ Ali (Fawad looks uber hot as a DJ) — whom she has loved for a long time. Upon reconnecting, Ayan invites Alizeh for a dinner at Saba’s. During the dinner, they both exchange awkward poetic dialogues which leads Saba to realize that Ayan is madly in love with Alizeh.
Saba breaks up with Ayan and he runs towards Alizeh, only to ask her to let him go since he is unable to reconcile with the fact that Alizeh cannot love him more than a friend.
Then we see two years scurry past in the length of a song, and we arrive at the last part of the movie where Ali has left Alizeh and she has gone M.I.A.
The third fragment
This is the most interesting, intriguing and melancholy leg of the film. Ayan figures out a way to find Alizeh. The two meet in a deeply moving scene where Alizeh confesses that her days are numbered. At this juncture, Ranbir and Anuskha have acted stupendously. Their expressions have encapsulated the feelings of friendship, and the sadness of losing someone most aptly.
As an ode to friendship, Ayan makes it his mission to inject happiness in the last days of Alizeh’s life. He also goes bald to support her fight against cancer — a deed that only a dedicated friend would commit.
One night, feeling that their bond is still imperfect, Ayan tries to coerce Alizeh to love him back. This is where she re-establishes that she cannot love him back more than a friend because she drew strength from it. And loving him in a higher capacity would become her weakness.
The movie, however, ends beautifully on a lilting note that will surely move anyone to tears.
Last word: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil depicts a tale of unrequited love in a gamut unfamiliar emotions. Though, they have tried hard to add the element of Sufism in it, that mark is hugely missed. The film also seems like advocating for silent discos quite a lot.
The chemistry between the characters is masterfully captured in every shot. Be it the quirky friendship between Ayan and Alizeh, or the “Aishbir” intimacy. Even Alizeh and Ali impress us with the warmth in their connection.
Karan Johar is known for making movies that are larger than life. His movies have a certain degree of magnetism that makes us revisit them every now and then. But, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is not one for the archives. It is rather a one-time watch, at most.
