Ae Dil Hai Mushkil review: When love shows you the middle finger

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil review: Ranbir Kapoor proves flops are just a phase in an actor’s career, his is done.

Peace or passion? Love or friendship? Lust or obsession? Karan Johar is the magician who weaves the matters of heart into unforgettable cinema. With Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, he has a hit at hand and has booked yet another place in that stack of our DVD collection. Ranbir Kapoor proves flops are just a phase in an actor’s career, his is done. Anushka Sharma shows her range. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan gets the comeback she deserved. Diwali just got a whole lot interesting.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is the story of a lovable misfit Ayan (naam to suna hi hoga). From his Mere Baap ki Arzoo, read MBA, class to his mercenary girlfriend, he is living a life decided by others. Anushka Sharma’s Alizeh Khan (and she is not a terrorist) is his liberation. She takes away his inhibitions, his insecurities. What she can’t give is love, she had friendzoned him after an awkward encounter on the couch on their very first meeting.

They dance on Baby Doll, their talk is peppered with Bollywood dialogues. Hell, they even subvert the favourite Bollywood trope of dancing in chiffon on snow-capped mountains.

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They complete each other but they don’t know it. When a third enters this relationship, it falls apart.

Rahul, the boy, leaves Alizeh. Rahul, the man meets Saba (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan). And that is what ADHM is all about — people and relationships coming of age. The chemistry of all the couples is palpable, so is the hurt. Love comes in all shapes and sizes — sometimes it comes with violins, sometimes it shows you the middle finger. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is the latter, maybe that is why it feels so real.

Bollywood and music are Ayan and Alizeh’s redemption; ours too.