Friday, October 28, 2016

Review: AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL


Gave My Dil to First Half of the film,
Second Half is Mushkil to Sit Through.

2 stars

Mini Review:

Ranbir and Anushka are best of friends. They have fun together but Anushka tells Ranbir she loves Fawad Khan, but they’re not together because he dumped her for some beautiful air-hostess (who uses that description any more?). Fawad shows up, contrite and admits to still loving Anushka. Now Anushka marries Fawad, and Ranbir realises he’s in love with Anushka. Miserable, he leaves Anushka’s wedding and at the airport meets Aishwarya Rai. By the time the flight ends the two have decided they will be friends with benefits. So much for a broken heart. Now it’s Aishwarya Rai’s turn to fall in love with Ranbir when Anuskha shows up. By this time you are fed up and thankfully someone dies. What a waste of a good idea.

Main Review:

There’s got to be something more than just spouting favorite lines from Hindi movies to keep your audience glued to the screen. But that becomes the basis of Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma’s friendship. You enjoy the first half which is bubbly and frothy and Anushka Sharma’s fun, feisty character steals your heart. She’s sharp as tack that one, and you marvel at how strong-willed she is. You know she’s not ever going to marry this silly lad (you think he’s going to say ‘Barfi!’ any time!) who’s loaded with family money. A small niggling thought enters your head. Is she trying to help him grow up?

When Fawad Khan, the love of Anushka’s life shows up and she chooses to marry him, you are relieved. But at Anushka’s wedding Ranbir becomes afflicted with a permanent hangdog expression.

All seems well in the theater because the young couples are snuggling deeper into each other when they hear lines like: Pyaar ek junoon hota hai, dosti mein sukoon hota hai!’ (Love is madness, friendship is peace). You see flashbacks of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge here instead...

A miserable, heartbroken Ranbir happily grabs a bunch of grapes, bumps into Aishwarya Rai at the airport lounge and flirts with her by telling her his life’s sob story. Aishwarya Rai looks so gorgeous, you don’t blame her poet’s heart for giving him a book of her poems and her telephone number. You spend a minute of silence as poets in the audience die of a heart attack because no one today publishes hardcover books of poetry.

They happily become friends with benefits until Anushka Sharma shows up in Vienna. The love nest becomes a scene we saw before. While Ranbir looks soulfully and longingly at Anushka, the two women look fed up of the hangdog expression of the lad. Aishwarya sugarcoats her break-up with Ranbir: I’m sorry but I seem to be falling for you, and I’d rather be alone than be with you for-ever and ever.

Homeless, Ranbir now becomes singing sensation. And you wonder why a predominantly ‘white’ audience cares for ‘Bulleya’, as you see Ranbir echo his Rockstar poses. Blah!

The second half of the movie rapidly goes the Katti Batti way and you want to run out and ask the projectionist to rewind the film to the guest appearance of Aishwarya Rai’s husband (the man who has made outstretched arms into a love trope). Alas, the film becomes more of a mushkil than a tale of dils. Suffering from ‘one sided love’? Rest assured, this film will cure you of the affliction.


P.S. Why is always Christmas in foreign lands?


(this review appears on nowrunning dot com)

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