Trivia

The two leading female characters were originally supposed to be Pakistani women. However, Karan Johar decided to change the female characters to Indian Muslims to avoid further trouble after the film ran into controversy over the casting of a Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.

Indian Political parties were against the release of the film, due to involvement of Pakistani actors like Fawad Khan and Imran Abbas, as there were tensions between the India and Pakistan after the Uri attack on September 18, 2016.

After the release of the film it ran into controversy due to a dialog which insulted legendary singer Mohammad Rafi which said Rafisahab was cranky in his songs.

At the 62nd Filmfare Awards, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil received nine nominations, including Best Director for Johar, and won four awards for its soundtrack.

Karan Johar was pressured by political parties to edit Fawad Khan's role or re-shoot it with another. Karan Johar said it was difficult to replace the character of Fawaad Khan, as the film was scheduled to Diwali release, which was a few days after the Uri terrorist attack. It was also said that Saif Ali Khan's face would be edited on Fawaad Khan's character, but that would take time and would go past the release date. A settlement was ultimately made between Karan Johar and the politicians, after he said he would no longer be working with any Pakistani artists.