Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Movie Review

Ayaan (Ranbir) and Alizeh (Anushka) meet each other at a disco for the first time and their hook-up doesn't go well as Alizeh rejects Ayaan for he doesn't know how to kiss and finds him sexually unattractive and Alizeh is madly in love with Ali (Fawad Khan) even though she chose to call it quits because Fawad doesn't love her the way she does. So the story is quite simple (Spoilers below):

Anushka Sharma loves Fawad Khan
Ranbir Kapoor loves Anushka Sharma
Aishwarya Rai loves Ranbir Kapoor
Shah Rukh Khan still loves Aishwarya Rai.

The story is simple but Karan Johar is a master of story telling. He has somehow excelled the art of making the audience cry. By the end of this movie, you would realize that you had cried a bucket full of tears and when we say YOU, we mean those who have ever loved someone but never got the same love back from the other person. The movie is all about Ek Tarfa Pyaar (Unrequited Love).

Karan Johar has included Bollywood masala entertainment in the first half which is extremely fast paced. Ranbir Kapoor's singing and dancing from Mohd. Rafi Songs to Sunny Leone's Baby is amazing.

Rishi Kapoor fans are in for a treat as Ranbir and Anushka Sharma do a parody of Rishi kapoor's Chandni Song Tere Mere Hoton Pe.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Dialogues and Kal Ho Na Ho music is well placed in this movie.

One of the most entertaining performances in this movie is by Lisa Haydon who plays Ranbir Kapoor's flng. The meeting between Anushka Sharma, her date Imran Abbas (2nd Pakistani actor to be seen in this movie), Ranbir Kapoor and Lisa Haydon is one of the best Bollywood scenes. Lisa's take on Hindi words like Vaatavaran will leave you in splits.  Interestingly, Lisa has more screen time than Fawad Khan in this movie.

What works for ADHM is its practical approach towards love and friendship. It does not deviate. If a person isn't attracted to someone (beyond friendship), then that person would never be so and the same thing is shown in ADHM as  everybody's love remain unrequited. Besides the story telling, the music is another strong point of this movie. Channa Mereya is the soul of this movie and you will definitely listen to this song more often after watching Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

What the audience may not like is the second half. Post the disappearance of Anushka Sharma from the scene, the second half becomes extremely dull. Aishwarya Rai in a Shaayar's role is absolutely not convincing, though she looks stunning in all her scenes.  She does perform brilliantly in her last scene where she asks Ranbir to move away from her life.

While some critics have come down heavily on the old Bollywood formula scenes and excessive references to KJo's past movies, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil unashamedly celebrates Bollywood and it does that brilliantly. Watch this for Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma's performance.