Karan Johar returns to fine form with 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'. Made with skill & executed with heart, this romantic-drama isn't without its flaws, but for the most, its engaging & affecting. And the performances, are top-notch!

'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' Synopsis: Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) falls in love with Alizeh (Anushka Sharma), but she considers him as her best friend. To add to his misery, Alizeh gets married & Ayan is left Heartbroken, Ayan's one-sided love never ends, although a new women enters his life (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).

Karan Johar has made films celebrating love with happy endings in the past, but with 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', he depicts love as painful, unreasonable & also, unattainable. We watch Ayan break into pieces after the love of his life friend-zones him. You feel for the guy throughout, as he is a likable & good protagonist, who, sadly, never gets the person, whom he truly lives for. Alizeh also is an interesting leading-lady, although one might consider this character as partly selfish. What I liked about the both of the characters was the intensity between them & by the difference of their love to each other. Johar nicely builds up the first-hour with first their friendship & later Ayan's change of pace & keeps the second-hour dramatic.

Having said that, the final act falls apart. Just when you think Johar has sided away from melodrama, he puts in exactly that & it fails to engage. Although the final act isn't tear-jerky nor is it overtly sad, it certainly isn't the best end. Johar settles for a safer end & that acts a minus point. How I wish the final act was more intense, than saddening.

Johar's Screenplay is well-done, no doubt. He's made an engaging & affecting film on heartbreak & one-sided love. The characters work, the dialogue (by Niranjan Iyengar) are spot-on & the even sub-plots aren't bad. Its only, as mentioned before, the final act that doesn't work. Johar's Direction is mature. He's handled the film well. Anil Mehta's Cinematography captures the stunning foreign locales, with flourish. Editing is mostly crisp. Art & Costume Design are perfect. Pritam's Score is sensational.

Performance-Wise: Ranbir Kapoor & Anushka Sharma are up for vie top honors. Ranbir is wonderfully restrained in a role that demands an actor of his caliber. He's funny when needed & absolutely heartbroken which required. He pulls off a difficult part, with complete conviction. Anushka is in top-form. Her character might be credited as selfish by some, but Anushka portrays her part with enviable realism. She makes the part look real & you feel for her, whenever she's bogged down by circumstances & the bitterness of being truthful. Ranbir & Anushka are the life & soul of 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks ravishing & delivers a decent performance. Of the supporting cast, Lisa Haydon is terrific in her bit. And Shahrukh Khan hams it up in a cameo.

On the whole, 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' has a few lows, but its pluses are undeniable too. Worth a watch!

Poor Anushka Sharma (which is a good actress, I liked her in "Sultan"), had to shave her head for this film (or it may have been just prosthetic?) However, the effort was in vain, 2h 38 min wasted. Neither a song that spark your creeps. A story which is meaningless, nothing is justified. In vain they went and filmed in London, Vienna and other places, everything, every line sounds fake. Not even the presence of Shah Rukh Khan (who is a very good actor) does not save anything. Neither Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's beauty does not save anything. The sickest, the one in the lead role, Ranbir Kapoor, with all his family descent (grandchildren and great-grandchildren) actors. Yet, something good has, an idea, "Love is like a cancer" that is very true.

I saw this with my family in a theater. Honestly, i ain't no fan of Karan Johar's films. The film had nothing new to offer. Typical Bollywood romance movie. The characters r busy partying from this club to that club. Half of the movie is in clubs n pubs. Karan tried really hard to portray his characters as "cool". Bad direction, pathetic script n lame editing. Typical boy n girl r just having conversations, spending time in an unbelievable platonic way. I mean don't they hav anything else to do. Fancy clothes, fancy places n plenty of time to do useless stuff. I was bore to the core. Believe me this movie had nothing new to offer. It has shades of Rockstar n other SRK films n a lil similarity to Sweet November. I thot the movie will end but it kept on going. I started fiddling with my fone, my kids asked me when it's going to end. There was no need for Aishwarya's character. Cud hav been just any random foreign babe. Aishwarya cannot act man. Lisa Haydn's character was way too stupid to believe. Anushka's acting is getting monotonous. She acted the same in Dil dhadak..... n Jab tak... Ranbir shud stop doing these kinda movies. Its getting monotonous of him too. The only saving grace were some songs. Totally unrealistic n unromantic film.