Nov 26, 2016 04:05 PM
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(Updated Nov 26, 2016 04:00 PM)
But even being adequately prepared isn’t enough to keep us from feeling drained from his latestrelease, “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.” A filmthat Johar has admitted has been heavily inspired by his own experiences with love and rejection, its story follows Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor), an aspiring singer who hasn’t yet experienced the heartache required to give his voice much gravitas—until he falls hard for the sassy and spirited Alizeh (Anushka Sharma). Still reeling from a past breakup, Alizeh has little interest in making Ayan anything more than a close friend. Ayan’s disappointment turns to full-on heartbreak when Alizeh returns to her first love, Ali (Fawad Khan), as he realizes that while his attachment to her is unwavering, it may never be reciprocated.But even while watching Ayan’s steadfast pining for Alizeh, it’s difficult to amass enough feelings of our own towards their relationship, thanks in large part to the fact that their interactions are based on little more than a mutual affinity for spouting off lines from Hindi movies. Ayan and Alizeh bond over bantering that borrows heavily from movie scripts, dancingtoBollywoodplaylists, and recreating famous scenes from 80s hits. It’s as though the Johar, along with co-writer Niranjan Iyengar, molded the screenplay around how many cinematic quotes (many, cheekily, borrowed from Johar’s own previous films) could be crammed in, regardless ofwhether they truly propel the narrative forward.As a result, the connection between the two leads seems affable, but nowhere close to capable of spawning Ayan’s deep dive into lifelong devotion. While the entire first half balances on a rickety foundation of recycled dialogue, the film swerves to a different sort of superficiality in thesecond act, as Ayan finds temporary solace in the arms of poetess Saba (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), whose ornate Urdu even compels Ayan to ask, at one point, whether she rehearses her conversations in advance. The non-illusion is complete with a preposterous twist in the third act, thrust in as a convenient but highly unsatisfying way for Johar to rush the 155 minute running time to a conclusion.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil movie review: Anushka Sharma is familiar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan catches the eye but it is Ranbir Kapoor who lifts the film. He is terrific as the fellow who crumbles, andcries and shoves his aching heart on his sleeve.