Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is a modern take on classic feelings of love. This Diwali Karan Johar is back with a heart-warming tale of love and its complicated nature. The relationship drama looks magnificent, has great actors and amazing music.
Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) falls in love with his soulmate, Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) loves him as her best friend, however she does not reciprocate the romantic feelings of love – After the aforementioned heartbreak Ayan is involved in a passionate relationship with Saba (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) who helps him realise Alizeh’s value in his life, regardless of their relationship. The story boasts various cameo roles that add emotional value to the storytelling.
Ranbir Kapoor delivers his best performance to date. Ranbir Kapoor is brilliant. He portrays every emotion required to make you feel his pain, happiness and heartbreak. As Ayan he is endearing. Anushka Sharma sparkles from within with her most mesmerising performance to date as Alizeh, she portrays real emotion – from being carefree to experiencing pain she exudes charm with brilliant onscreen presence. After Sultan, this is another brilliant performance from her. Aishwarya Rai looks absolutely gorgeous and brings charm to the storytelling. She looks like a dream and you fall in love with her timeless beauty. Her screen presence is breath-taking from the very second she is introduced into the screenplay.
Lisa Haydon’s cameo as Ayan’s girlfriend is on point. She is funny and fulfils her role well. She is is brilliant. Fawad Khan gives a good performance notwithstanding his limited screen time. Shah Rukh Khan too gets a small role and he delivers most significant dialogue of the film, “Ek tarfa pyaar ki takaat kuch aur hoti hai, wo auron ki tarah do logon mein nahi batti. Sirf mera haq hai iss par.”Alia Bhatt and Imran Abbas are seen in stylish cameos.
The movie is brilliantly scripted & beautifully directed with intense emotions of love, heartbreak & friendship. When it comes to telling larger than life stories of love, nobody beats Karan Johar. He makes Ae Dil look elegant and not just with London and Lucknow’s milieus but also with the alluring costumes and persuasive acting in the film. Many scenes in this modern day masterpiece will touch your heart such as the the soulful Channa Mereya sequence. The title track of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil may be the anthem of the motion picture but after watching the movie – Channa Mereya will have a special place in your heart. This is by far Karan Johar’s most mature, realistic and emotionally stirring movie to date.
The music by Pritam is excellent and all songs are equally enjoyable on video as they were in the audio. The crisp editing and cinematography makes this emotional journey wholly enjoyable. Like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and DDLJ spoke to the 90s and 00s audiences. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is apt for the contemporary generation of cinema goers. The movie is fresh yet has all the elements of a Karan Johar signature love story that reminds you of his classics. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is a movie all about accepting ‘I Friend You’ over ‘I Love You’. My rating is a well deserved 9.5/10.