Ae Dil Hai Mushkil seems to mix masala and maturity, Karan Johar style
Karan Johar is a hit machine. Steering Dharma productions to heights, Karan has proved that he is as talented a businessman as a director. He knows where to put his money (we saw how Dharma collaborated with SS Rajamouli for Bahubali) and how to mint money even with a below average movie like Student of The Year.
We have seen him grow from an out-and-out Bollywood masala director (Yes, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham and My Name Is Khan) to a mature filmmaker (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Bombay Talkies).
We also saw how he matured as a human being, understanding that camaraderie works better than needless tussles for the betterment of the industry on the whole, as well as personal achievements - how he mended broken bridges with the likes of Anurag Kashyap and Salman Khan, how he was ready to come out of his comfort zone of working with Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani and how he even ventured into acting.
With Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, I feel he is pushing his limits farther. Despite King Khan playing a cameo in the movie (or not), it is not a Shah Rukh Khan film. Karan, known for naming his movies in a particular way, four words starting with a K, has ditched even that with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
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| Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was a box office failure in India. |
I am certainly one of those who loved Karan's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Karan took the risk of making a movie where the protagonists are morally wrong, even after his godfather Shah Rukh and best friend Kajol warned him against it.
He chose to explore the depth of his lead characters' love for each other rather than pleasing the society. He chose to bear a box-office failure (in India) to tell a story he was passionate about. He chose to say it out loud that getting married doesn't necessarily mean you will fall in love, and that love can hit you any time, at any age, married or single, successful or not.
For me, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was about intense emotions. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil seems to be similar to it.
In the teaser of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that released today, Karan shows what he has made; in all possibilities, a movie with intense characters, unconventional relationships, deep friendships with blurry lines, and a lot of good music.
The opening shot - a long hold of Ranbir's tight close-up - is intense to begin with. The look in his eyes, complemented with Arijit's soulful voice, tells me this movie will break many hearts.
Cut to these shots of Fawad Khan and Anushka Sharma. They already look so broken. As broken as Deepika Padukone in Tamasha. Again, that is a lot of heartbreak.
Fast forward to this, Anushka looking at Ranbir, Ranbir at Anushka, Aishwarya at Ranbir and clearly bothered by the way he's looking at another woman that way.
Karan hits the final nail on the coffin, keeping only a single dialogue in the teaser, and one as powerful as this: "Ek darfa pyar ki taakat hi kuch aur hoti hai. Auron ki rishton ki tarah yeh do logon mai nai batthi, sirf mera haq hai ispe," which roughly translates to - "One-sided love has a different power altogether. Like other people's relationships, it doesn't get distributed to two people, I have the sole right on it."
Of course, Dharma directors, much like Karan, love making grand, colourful, blockbuster movies, but what they also love is to make good cinema.
Ayan's Wake Up Sid, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Shakun Batra's Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Kapoor and Sons, Vinil Mathew's Hasee Toh Phasee, Abhishek Varman's 2 States were all commercial Bollywood movies, but at the same time, were movies with good content as well.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that seems much less colourful than other Dharma movies makes me happy. Maybe Bollywood will see one of the greatest love stories from a director known for making love stories.