Movie Review: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil – is hard to praise

The heart wants what the heart wants. Only, in this case, we as the audience weren’t quite sure what Karan Johar’s heart truly wanted from his latest offering – Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Was it that he wanted to explore the complexity of love in various shades, give Ranbir and Anushka a solid platform to express themselves or re-live the memories of his past offerings. Or perhaps, he too, knew that he didn’t have a solid offering and the title is actually him, convincing his own heart, that it seems difficult that he can win his audience this time around. Whatever the intentions, ultimately – he manages a predictable storyline which is heavily reliant on a mish mash of his previous successes but doesn’t come into its own for even a moment of its over-long runtime.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil starts off weird and a little desperate to get your attention and goes further downhill from there. The attempts on humor are forced and you feel a little for both Ranbir and Anushka who are still trying to make those lines work. There are a few laughs, to be fair, but the previous offerings have offered a much easier ride (I am not counting Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna in this list). The premise for the intermission feels laughably shallow as does the romance up to that point. That it forms the basis for the remaining movie is indicative of the weak foundation the movie has.

The second half offers a breath of fresh air with Aishwarya Rai Bacchan looking the ethereal beauty – her presence is quite mesmerizing on screen. Anushka’s performance is earnest but finally unconvincing; she simply lacks the power her character needs – something that Kajol did for Karan Johar movies previously and quite effortlessly at that. You feel for Ranbir a bit, who doesn’t put a foot wrong despite his weak character, and ends up with a performance that was delivered well, but didn’t do justice to his immense talent. Tamasha (another not so great movie) provided him a better platform to perform and express himself so you can imagine the range this one manages. Fawad Khan has too fleeting a presence – I am sure the original version would’ve shown a lot more of him, but after all the cuts and edits – there is nothing left, of notice.

The songs, otherwise the bane of most Bollywood movies, are pretty much the saving grace for ADHM – especially the haunting piano melody of the title track – which becomes your best reason to still stay interested in the proceedings on screen. That music is also what’ll stay with you long after the ending credits – not much else. The twists and turns are few and far between and those too seem forced rather than a natural extension of the plot.

When I first saw and heard the title song – I fervently hoped that the movie would do justice to this awesome melody. Far from it, ADHM is perhaps one of Karan Johar’s weakest offerings (after Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna). If your heart refuses to listen, you can still watch it – but keep in mind, this time ‘Kuch Khaas nahi hota hai’ - this one’s going to be hard to praise.