The title "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" - says it all- Love
is complicated and difficult, and so is the Movie!
Directed by Karan Johar
Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar
Written by Karan Johar
Starring : Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya
Rai Bachchan, Fawad Khan
Music by Pritam
Cinematography: Anil Mehta
Release dates: 28 October 2016
Genre: Romance
Review : Birjis Adeni Rashed
Rating: ***(3 /5)
(The aim and intention of my reviews is
to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the
movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)
The
movie makes attempts to define love in various ways- platonic, passionate,
physical, pretentious gold digger kind, one sided & unrequited, heartbroken, friendship vs love comparison.... but in spite
of this exhausting exercise, love is still left unexplained!
Ae Dil
Hai Mushkil has clichéd romantic configurations like other Karan Johar’s movies
“Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Kabhi Alvida na Kehna”, “Kal Ho Na Ho” and has shades,
recall of dialogs, reminders and mash up of all these movies and more. But ADHM
in spite of glamorous stars, excellent acting, and beautiful cinematography
falls short with its lack of fresh story becoming just an exaggerated and superficial
takeoff.
The
story based in London revolves around Ayan (Ranbhir), a rich, unfocused, MBA
student wanna be singer, and Alizeh
(Anoushka) a privileged, fun loving, spirited girl who is always seeking life’s
distractions. They meet at a pub and find they have a lot in common like their
taste in tacky 80s music, fascination for living out Bollywood dream sequences, taking off in private jets at whims and fancy,
and such, and become soulmates!
But things get complicated when Ayan falls in
love with Alizeh while she wants to remain friends with Ayan and yearns for her
Ex- Ali ( Fawad Khan). Each ones perspectives of love is different and this
leads to conflict. Ali re-enters in Alizehs life and Ayan bounces off to new
flame Saba (Aishwarya). Karan Johar tries to share more philosophies on love and
drags the confusing saga. And to complicate the already perplexing situation
with no resolution, he takes a deviant twist to the story and comes out to a disjointed
conclusion!
The
characters in the movie are complex with strong emotions and all the actors
give out quality performances reflecting those personalities. Ranbhir Kapoor
expressively conveys a compendium of emotions to reflect his confused characters
many phases and moods at the risk of even being irritating. Anoushka’s acting skills are excellent and echoes
her strong minded character. Aishwarya adds an aura of self-importance with her
ethereal aloofness and mirrors the role perfectly. Fawad Khan is not more than eye candy for his
fans since his role is sadly chopped small due to recent Indo-Pak controversies.
Lost in edits, the details of love story
and reasoning of passionate yearning of Alizeh for Ali are left for assumption.
Lisa Hayden as the gold digger/ temporary girlfriend, provides some comic relief
in the movie. Johar even introduces couple special appearances to make it glossier,
if it was not enough!
The songs are the highlight of the movie and are melodious specially the title songs-Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Channa Mereya and Bulleya. Cinematography across London, Paris and Vienna is good if you don’t delve in to the unrealistic jet setting reasoning.
If you were expecting to walk out of the
theater with exhilaration or poignancy or even simple satisfaction like other Karan Johar movies, you will be disappointed.
End of this movie you are just restless and
confused!
More Audience Reactions after movie viewing in Austin, TX :
Farah
said- “ It had good acting, some good songs, good looking people… but too long,
and story was bakwas”
H said -
“Movie is good if watched as few different segments, as a whole it doesn’t have
a clear focus or main theme. And it was too long and rather confusing.”
M said-
“Movie was confusing”
S said –“I just like the songs”
Tanveer
said- “It has a bunch of nice looking
guys and gals....all rich, bekaar, self-absorbed, and weighed down by heavy
emotional baggage.…. When these worthies are not flirting, mating, or making
preparations to mate, they break into old Bollywood songs. Seems like Johar is
mocking and celebrating the 70s and 80s Bollywood era... all at the same time.
Corny dialogues, kitschy costumes, awful sweaters, navel-baring georgette
sarees and short cholis.....all are recalled for nostalgic effect…..The mating
ritual keeps going but soon gets tiresome for all the players who now want to
grow up. The fidgety audience is also getting tired of this mating game and
wants to head home.”
You are welcome to add your opinions and point of views in the comments . Thank you.
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