A Singer pursuing his first love and committed to sustaining a failed relationship.
No one can overcome a heart-break for someone else. There is no substitute and the victim or rather the ‘fighter’ has to go through it personally to emerge stronger and mature to deal with the negative thoughts it brings about that can ruin one’s life. It is a struggle of a different kind scripted by our Creator for every individual. ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ brings to life few such characters onscreen.
Story: Ayan Sanger(Ranbir Kapoor), born and brought up in London is a MBA student and also an aspiring Singer who has had 4 hit songs to his credit in 5 years. He is currently being interviewed to throw light on his love life. He narrates meeting his first love Alizeh Khan(Anoushka Sharma) from Lucknow at a night club in London. Alizeh has overcome the break-up with her Lucknow boyfriend Ali(Fawad Khan), a DJ and has now moved to London. She has endured the pain of one sided love affair and overcome her depression, thus graduating on developing skills post break-up. She is dating a Doctor(Imran Abbas) in London and Ayan is dating a’gold digger’(Lisa Hayden) who later falls for the Doctor. Ayan and Alizeh are single again and thus become best friends, but there is a twist. Ali comes back in Alizeh’s life leaving Ayan heartbroken. Ayan then meets Saba(Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), a writer and poet who is divorced. Ayan and Saba enjoy their flourishing relationship while Ayan has still not forgotten his first love Alizeh. This one sided first love forms the core of the film which takes pride in ownership of love that cannot be shared and victor is eventually the one who loves.
Cast: Ayan(Ranbir Kapoor), Alizeh(Anoushka Sharma), Ali(Fawad Khan), Saba(Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and Tahir(Shah Rukh Khan) were the key characters that were played to perfection. Imran Abbas and Fawad Khan were the two Pakistani actors who could have been done away with and replaced with Indian talent as they did not add any value.
Pros: The strong cast is the USP of the film. The music and songs are well written and composed enriching the screenplay. The ‘Silent Disco’ concept was innovative. Aishwarya and SRK’s dialogues had great depth, maturity and understanding making one wonder the reason for their divorce.
Cons: You will find similarities in the script and reminded of Ranbir starrers ‘Anjaana Anjaani’, ‘Wake up Sid’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ and ‘Rockstar’. Too much money is splashed around by the characters in this film to which not all viewers will relate to. The characters were filthy rich, shameless, with no regard for morals, holding one night stands on first intro, and these lousy characters form the lead protagonists of the film. No one is shown working hard for their bread and butter but they are all replenished and enjoy celebrating even heartbreak holidays. Ranbir is doing MBA but never found studying. Anouska Sharma’s character is erratic and it seems she is the one who spoils a straight forward love story making it complicated. She enjoys peace only in friendship and not in love and physical relationship.
Songs: The music and lyrics were impressive with effective visuals nicely incorporated in the storyline. ‘The Breakup Song’ was the sole number that brought cheers and was nicely choreographed.
Direction: Looking at the history of films written and directed by Karan Johar, he is mostly successful in delivering hits at the box office. He is a judge on several TV shows and surely knows to judge his work as well. Cast and quality output is definitely his strength with script laying the foundation. He sticks to the vision he has for his film and delivers.’Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ is a good product but views will be divided on the script.
Conclusion: The story is a bit complicated but this is what K Jo has scripted for you – an adulterated romantic drama. Truly speaking, I could not really connect with the characters of the film nor their lifestyle. Not my type of film that I would enjoy watching. Except for the first 30 minutes, I liked the film in bits and pieces without passing judgement on their lifestyle and flings. The film does provide you few giggles, emotional entertainment, and some meaningful dialogues that may tickle your brain cells. Finally it will be for the audience to decide if the film deserves a watch. As for me I would recommend it only for the lessons if one could learn in sustaining a relationship in a manner that is morally and spiritually accepted which inspires, encourages and builds other relationships.