A passionate singer falls deeply in love with Alizeh, who only sees him as a friend. When she marries another man, he finds solace with Saba, but his heart remains torn between both women.A passionate singer falls deeply in love with Alizeh, who only sees him as a friend. When she marries another man, he finds solace with Saba, but his heart remains torn between both women.A passionate singer falls deeply in love with Alizeh, who only sees him as a friend. When she marries another man, he finds solace with Saba, but his heart remains torn between both women.
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Featured reviews
Ae Film Dekna Hai Mushkal
I would like to say Amitabh Bachchan style "Ya Kia Ho Raha Hai" And to finish my comments after watching this movie, I would like to change the name of the movie to "Ae Film Dekna Hai Mushkal" It's totally disappointing. It's just waste of time. The casts are very good but the movie is totally opposite of what audience were expecting. The expectations from such a casts were too high but even that movie couldn't reach the minimum level of audience choice and expectations. The movie casts are really wasted in all aspects and casts should also reconcile themselves for that movie disasters by signing in and being part that movie.
Disappointing
Karan Johar has lost it. This guy at least knew how to make crowd pleasing commercial dramas but this film has no chemistry between the actors, bad acting, bad dialogues and one single theme of one sided love inadequately explored. A great disappointment.
Unrequited love has never been so banal and shallow
Sorry, Karan Johar as always puts more stress on the gloss rather than the substance, and the result is mostly a shallow film that would hardly ever ring true to thinking viewers. Obviously, it's the material that's quite lacking to begin with but the treatment is way worse. First, the incredible number of references to Johar's own films was absolutely annoying. That penchant for self-glorification has become quite a tedious motif in his films, and by the way, so have the other references to other Hindi films such as Chandni and the likes.
Above all, the biggest glitch here is the banality of the writing and particularly the portrayal of the relationships, all of which completely strain credulity. Not a single one of them rings true - not Ranbir's with his girlfriend, not Anushka's with her husband, and certainly not the friendship between Ranbir and Anushka, which is supposed to form the basis for the entire story but is highly unconvincing. The film tries to sell us an age-old formula of two people who are good friends, but one of them wants more, and it doesn't gel and lacks depth.
So what's the problem here? That I personally, and I'm sure many others, won't buy for a minute that a chance encounter in Europe and a few fun days spent together would turn two strangers into such good friends. Actually, even if it is possible, the script doesn't give it justice; the strangers' shared experience should have been much deeper than what this film showed us (more or less dancing to Hindi films and hardly one serious conversation) to establish a true, year-long camaraderie as required by the story. Eventually, it just doesn't make sense and lacks heart and realism.
The portrayal of the obsession, which is what this film essentially deals with (indeed, it's more about obsession rather than unrequited love), is handled much better. And even better is the entrance of a new character into this story, which helps refresh the entire mood of the film. But the film is twisted to no end, which isn't a compliment, and as expected, typically overlong. Moreover, some of the twists towards the end are so cliché and lacking in credibility it feels the director hasn't learned a thing about the growing sophistication of his potential audience.
Where the film does score is on the technical front, where everything is handled professionally. The locations and music are, as always in Johar's films, stupendous, and make for a fun cinematic experience despite the flaws. Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma sink their teeth into their half-baked roles and give much more than they get. The ultimate saving grace however is Aishwarya Rai, whose charismatic presence gives the film so much of what it lacks. It's not just her dazzling beauty, it's the depth in her eyes. I wish the film had more of this depth.
Above all, the biggest glitch here is the banality of the writing and particularly the portrayal of the relationships, all of which completely strain credulity. Not a single one of them rings true - not Ranbir's with his girlfriend, not Anushka's with her husband, and certainly not the friendship between Ranbir and Anushka, which is supposed to form the basis for the entire story but is highly unconvincing. The film tries to sell us an age-old formula of two people who are good friends, but one of them wants more, and it doesn't gel and lacks depth.
So what's the problem here? That I personally, and I'm sure many others, won't buy for a minute that a chance encounter in Europe and a few fun days spent together would turn two strangers into such good friends. Actually, even if it is possible, the script doesn't give it justice; the strangers' shared experience should have been much deeper than what this film showed us (more or less dancing to Hindi films and hardly one serious conversation) to establish a true, year-long camaraderie as required by the story. Eventually, it just doesn't make sense and lacks heart and realism.
The portrayal of the obsession, which is what this film essentially deals with (indeed, it's more about obsession rather than unrequited love), is handled much better. And even better is the entrance of a new character into this story, which helps refresh the entire mood of the film. But the film is twisted to no end, which isn't a compliment, and as expected, typically overlong. Moreover, some of the twists towards the end are so cliché and lacking in credibility it feels the director hasn't learned a thing about the growing sophistication of his potential audience.
Where the film does score is on the technical front, where everything is handled professionally. The locations and music are, as always in Johar's films, stupendous, and make for a fun cinematic experience despite the flaws. Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma sink their teeth into their half-baked roles and give much more than they get. The ultimate saving grace however is Aishwarya Rai, whose charismatic presence gives the film so much of what it lacks. It's not just her dazzling beauty, it's the depth in her eyes. I wish the film had more of this depth.
Weak script ruins everything!
The theme of unrequited love is interesting and from someone like Karan johar, it was expected much more!
The movie has moments, typical of a Karan johar movie and it delights you, coupled with great music and Ranbir Kapoor's strong performance but those moments are very few and they get diluted in an otherwise collection of scenes that felt like was written to please the younger generation.
The major problem is the story, the Anushka and Ranbir's conflict is stretched too much and the final resolution is very underwhelming and a cliche. Also, the characters are one tone throughout the movie and by the end, you don't care about them in any way
The final nail on the coffin is Anushka's cancer, like seriously, its the most cliche plot point of Bollywood and has been used more than anything else, expected something better than this in 2016.
The movie was just badly written and could have been made a lot better if the story was a bit more thought out.
Watch it only for some good emotional scenes, awesome music, and Ranbir Kapoor's performance but despite all of these, its really tough to like this film.
The movie has moments, typical of a Karan johar movie and it delights you, coupled with great music and Ranbir Kapoor's strong performance but those moments are very few and they get diluted in an otherwise collection of scenes that felt like was written to please the younger generation.
The major problem is the story, the Anushka and Ranbir's conflict is stretched too much and the final resolution is very underwhelming and a cliche. Also, the characters are one tone throughout the movie and by the end, you don't care about them in any way
The final nail on the coffin is Anushka's cancer, like seriously, its the most cliche plot point of Bollywood and has been used more than anything else, expected something better than this in 2016.
The movie was just badly written and could have been made a lot better if the story was a bit more thought out.
Watch it only for some good emotional scenes, awesome music, and Ranbir Kapoor's performance but despite all of these, its really tough to like this film.
Karan Johar has cheated us!
I found Ae Dil Hai Mushkil thoroughly disappointing. Nothing about this movie connected to me. In my opinion, Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was the worst. However, ADHM manages to top even that!
Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma spend the first half imitating characters from Johar's previous movies and movies from the 80s while the second half looks like a retelling of Ranbir's own Rockstar (what with Ranbir eventually becoming a singer and the terminal illness track of Anushka)! Just disappointing! I think anyone could have played the role of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan's Saba. There was nothing spectacular about her performance. However, I think she lets her eyes do most of the talking which is why Johar picked her for the role. She has this incredible talent of emoting with her eyes without saying a word which most actresses of today fail to do. Even her shayaris had no depth whatsoever. Not to mention she struggles with the Urdu portions. I don't think her role was even necessary as she appears in a 15 minuteish role. Ditto for Fawad Khan whose presence in this movie created such a furor prior to its release! Fawad is wasted in a role with which he could have done wonders with. Fawad lets himself to be overshadowed by Ranbir in some of the scenes that they share.
Performance-wise, it's Ranbir and Anushka's film. They own every scene that they have. However, it's the script that lets them down that they find themselves imitating characters from various old Hindi films! It's Ranbir Kapoor who rises over an inane script, leaving his own stamp in each scene which could have fallen flat in a lesser actor's hands. But then he has experience from his own movie, Rockstar where he also played a similar role, playing a lovelorn boy to the hilt. Anushka Sharma is good but finds herself trapped in a role that was done-to-death before a billion times in Bollywood!
On a final note, ADHM is just a one-time watch for Karan Johar and Ranbir Kapoor's fans. I felt like Johar cheated us by creating suspense about the plot of the film before its release. There's nothing novel about the plot of ADHM!
Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma spend the first half imitating characters from Johar's previous movies and movies from the 80s while the second half looks like a retelling of Ranbir's own Rockstar (what with Ranbir eventually becoming a singer and the terminal illness track of Anushka)! Just disappointing! I think anyone could have played the role of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan's Saba. There was nothing spectacular about her performance. However, I think she lets her eyes do most of the talking which is why Johar picked her for the role. She has this incredible talent of emoting with her eyes without saying a word which most actresses of today fail to do. Even her shayaris had no depth whatsoever. Not to mention she struggles with the Urdu portions. I don't think her role was even necessary as she appears in a 15 minuteish role. Ditto for Fawad Khan whose presence in this movie created such a furor prior to its release! Fawad is wasted in a role with which he could have done wonders with. Fawad lets himself to be overshadowed by Ranbir in some of the scenes that they share.
Performance-wise, it's Ranbir and Anushka's film. They own every scene that they have. However, it's the script that lets them down that they find themselves imitating characters from various old Hindi films! It's Ranbir Kapoor who rises over an inane script, leaving his own stamp in each scene which could have fallen flat in a lesser actor's hands. But then he has experience from his own movie, Rockstar where he also played a similar role, playing a lovelorn boy to the hilt. Anushka Sharma is good but finds herself trapped in a role that was done-to-death before a billion times in Bollywood!
On a final note, ADHM is just a one-time watch for Karan Johar and Ranbir Kapoor's fans. I felt like Johar cheated us by creating suspense about the plot of the film before its release. There's nothing novel about the plot of ADHM!
Did you know
- TriviaAnushka and Aishwarya's characters were Muslims and were originally supposed to be Pakistani. However, Karan Johar decided to change the character origins to Indian to avoid further trouble after the film ran into controversy over the casting of a Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
- GoofsThe Urdu poetry book Saba (Aishwarya Rai) gives Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) opens like an English book with the spine of the book on the left of closed book. However, since Urdu is written from right to left, it is opposite the spine is on the right.
- Quotes
Ayan Sanger: It's a strange story of Love and Friendship. Love, the hero... and Friendship, the heroine.
- ConnectionsFeatured in C.I.D.: Happy New Year (2017)
- SoundtracksAe Dil Hai Mushkil
Lyrics by: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music by: Pritam Chakraborty
Performed by: Arijit Singh
- How long is Ae Dil Hai Mushkil?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- O Heart, It Is Difficult
- Filming locations
- London, England, UK(location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,264,983
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,190,042
- Oct 30, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $31,668,920
- Runtime
- 2h 38m(158 min)
- Color
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