Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Where a Triangle of Love Becomes a Pentagon

Having watched the first show of Karan Johar's 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' one realises that the MNS threat to the release of the film is the least of the obstacles in the fulfilment of love in life.The controversies appear so banal and irrelevant that any one who has seen the film would not even like to talk about them.

With Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma in the lead the audience had anticipated that this would be a love-triangle.But when that triangle becomes a square or five sided pentagon no one knows where the story is headed.

So here is a love-lorn Anushka, rejected by her lover Fawad Khan who encounters a super rich Ranbir Kapoor looking for real love.The two are happy till Fawad Khan makes a sudden re appearance and Anushka goes off the radar.Enter a much-married and divorced Aishwarya Rai who is a poetess.She has been married to Shahrukh Khan who makes a Guest appearance. Her philosophy-every poetess must get married-if the marriage succeeds she will have a happy life and if it fails she will become a good poetess.

But love is not merely a matter of numbers or geometrical shapes so it does not matter whether there are three four or five participants in this story.

The eternal formula of love has been 'Our sweetest songs are those that speak of saddest thought'.And where that pain could come from is the most unpredictable phenomenon which has also been the subject of so many works of literature including cinema.

'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' dissects the emotion of love with its various intricacies so minutely that it numbs the sensations,because most of the times it is done without anaesthesia,which means the characters express their emotions without caring for it's repercussions.

There is nothing fake about either the divided loyalties of Anushka Sharma,the reluctant lover in Aishwarya who has been given a great dialogue, "Main kisi ki zaroorat nahi nahi khwahish banna chahti hoon"(I don't want to become the need of someone but the ultimate dream)or the confused Ranbir Kapoor who cannot get over his obsession with Anushka even though he knows she is obsessed with her first love Fawad Khan.

It goes to the credit of the story by Johar himself that the three main protagonists stand true to his or her real feelings and that is what makes things so difficult that till the last frame the audiences are not clear what turn the story was taking.

If I can compare any film so complicated in emotions it would be 'Guide' enacted so competently by Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman or my personal favourite 'Sangharsh' with that maestro Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala as the lead pair.

But in those films there are other issues complicating the story.Karan Johar's film deals only with matters of the heart.There is no class,religious or other divide. All the five characters of the pentagon, like in a typical Karan Johar film are affluent and self-sufficient, if not self-obsessed.

It would be impossible to pick out the best performer in this class of actors.Aishwarya Rai, who has made her appearance after so many years is graceful and competent as a poetess, mouthing some choice Urdu dialogues with ease.But she makes an appearance only after the interval and goes off the screen.

The main burden of the film is carried by Anushka Sharma, who has proved once again why she is ranked among the top most heroines of Bollywood.This could well be an award winning role.

But it is Ranbir Kapoor who is the real scene stealer.One of the most versatile and talented new generation of actors he seems to have fallen back in the race for personal reasons.But as an actor he proves his supremacy once again, if indeed it was required.

Karan Johar's journey from DDLJ to ADHM has been a roller-coaster ride.It's entertainment full-on.