The story follows the adventures of a handful of Indian-origin singles: Ayan ( Ranbir Kapoor) , an artistic type who’d rather be singing than working in the family business, meets spirited Alizeh ( Anushka Sharma) at a London nightclub, and the two become fast friends. Ayan wants to be more than pals, but he respects the fact that Alizeh is pining for the one that got away, a hot EDM DJ called Ali ( Fawad Khan) . When Alizeh gets the chance to make things right with Ali, Ayan acts the perfect platonic friend, giving her a shoulder to cry on and even showing up as a welcome guest at her lavish Rajasthan wedding.
In an attempt to get over the loss, the heartbroken Ayan hooks up with Saba, a gorgeous poet he meets in a first-class airline lounge ( Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, in a welcome bit of casting) — but he soon starts to understand true human connection transcends the labels of friendship and love.
Director-writer-producer Johar is calling Ae Dil Hai Mushkil his “most grown-up film yet, ” but if these characters are any indication, the concept of grown-up responsibility hasn’t really caught on chez Johar: trust fund baby Ayan is given to moping around London rooftops in his Yeezys; Alizeh passes the time in an endless progression of nightclubs and silent discos; and even the brainy Saba has no visible means of support for her splashed-out Vienna hideaway — unless poetry is a hot new career path I wasn’t aware of.
