What is the difference between ‘love’ and ‘friendship’? ‘Love is passion but friendship is peace.’ Screams Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) to Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) who relentlessly pesters her to ‘love’him. Very true; to drive home this point in the milieu of new gen, Karan Johar takes about 3 hours through his colorful sojourn ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’.

All good intentions and idioms are not perfectly translated on the screen many times. ADHM is one such example. When Alizeh makes her point very clear and goes to marry her ‘love’ DJ Ali (Fawad Khan), Ayan volunteers himself into another elderly poetess Saba Taliyar Khan’s (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) life. Separated from her husband, Saba leads a luxurious life writing and reading ‘dard bari shayariyaan’ though she is not willing to accept her husband’s love; she says ‘I am happily divorced.’ When Saba watches the love in the eyes of Ayan for Alizeh during Alizeh’s visit to Vienna she asks him to just get out. The remaining part of ADHM is a lot of mush and melodrama before Ayan says Alizeh ‘I friend you’ instead of ‘I love you’.
 
The advantage or the pain of ‘one sided love’ could have been projected in a better and profound manner. But, Karan Johar dwells deep into all frivolities and pomposity of ambiance and foreign locations. Honestly speaking, while Anushka Sharma is over zealous in her acting, Ranbir passes as an enthusiastic and lovelorn youth with much flamboyance. Aishwarya Rai looks good and exudes charm to her character. Fawad Khan in a brief cameo is just gorgeous.

How one has to distinguish between ‘love’ and ‘friendship’? Very tacky question indeed; if friendship culminates into sex can it be termed love? Or if ‘sex’ alone continues can it be termed as ‘friendship’? What exactly Ayan wants or for that matter KaJo wanted to convey? The characters are full of contradictions; Alizeh who said to have been in love with Ali, after marriage feels lost and muses about Ayan. Ayan who says the he loves Alizeh fiercely does not mind having sex with Saba. Saba who says that she had gone through the pains of ‘love’ prefers to live alone from her husband who says he loves Saba deeply. Now how will you define ‘friendship’ and ‘love’? I am really confused. If one loves a person, physical relationship should be complimentary; or supplementary? If physical relationship becomes the prime criteria for ‘love’ friendship is immaterial. In my lexicon I consider ‘accepting anyone with their flaws irrespective of physical relationship and continue to be a friend that is love’. Well, the matter is debatable.

The title song ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Bulleyan’ verses are quite loaded and pleasing. Others just fall into a lot of cacophony. It is superfluous to comment on the technicalities of such lavishly mounted movies.

ADHM could have been a powerful movie had it been dealt with little thought and seriousness; alas, in reality, it just turns out to be a damp squib, but for a few scenes.