Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Devdas, filmy style

It is only the humour of the script that is the saving grace in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karan Johar told us, "Pyar dosti hai (Love is friendship)." Now, 20 years later, he seems to have arrived at the conclusion: "Pyar mein junoon hain, dosti mein sukoon hain." And, to arrive at this, he has taken the filmy route to Devdas, with the self-confidence and style befitting only the leading director-producer of Bollywood. It is as typical as possible for a mainstream film, and the fact that it had to encounter such hurdles to reach the screens, only because it employed a Pakistani actor in a minor role, tells us a lot about where we have reached as a society. For good measure, he added a salutation to martyred soldiers with the title cards to ensure that nationalistic goons did not start tearing up the seats in fury when Fawad Khan appeared on screen.

The two halves of the film could be, in fact, two different films, considering how much their style and tone change. Very early in the film, Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) and Alizey (Anushka Sharma) discover a common love for the "filmy" and bonding over it seals their friendship. There is the usual Johar banter over the nature of love and friendship. When Ayan sings "Dil pukare, aa re aa re aa re" on a London street to Alizey, she tells him: "Sur pakad lene se gaana nahi hota." One needs to have one's heart broken to create music, art, et cetera (Echoes of Rockstar? More of that later.) Of course, to have his heart broken, Ayan needs to be denied Alizey's love, which happens as her old flame Ali (Khan) lands up in Paris.

Till then, it has been mostly fun and games, with a large dollop of Bollywood dialogues and references thrown in for good measure. Johar has been appreciated little for his humour and critiqued more for the sacharrine sweetness of his films. But in this, as in previous ones, his writing is best when it sticks to the realm of humour. There is a tribute to Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi's Chandni sequence that had the audience in splits. Then Ali arrives and Alizey scoots with him, leaving Ayan lost and bewildered. Now, the Devdas references start coming thick and fast. Invited to Alizey's wedding in Lucknow, Ayan gets drunk, dances like a lattoo and then tells her that he loves her.

It is surprising that Kapoor should agree to do a Devdas-like character after Rockstar, but credit to him that he is able to make the character significantly different. Special praise must be reserved for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who makes a confident comeback in the poet Saba. And, Shah Rukh Khan, as Taheer, Saba's ex-husband, has the best dialogue: "Adhure pyaar ki takat hi alag hoti hai." This is perhaps the most elaborate Bollywood reference worked into the film: the Paro and Devdas of yesteryears as Chandramukhi and Chunilal.

The finale of the movie, however, is predictable. Warning: spoilers ahead. When Ayan and Alizey meet again, she is bald and dying because of cancer. It's disappointing as it is a cop out, leaving questions hanging in the air: what if she didn't have cancer but fell in love with someone else?

Also, the depiction of cancer, as in most mainstream films, is anaesthetic. As Susan Sontag writes in Disease as Metaphor, cancer is a disease of those parts of our bodies - prostrate, stomach, breasts - that are likely to embarrass us. But as in Kal Ho Na Ho, Johar shies away from depicting the ugly aspects of cancer, concentrating on the lively tale of how the characters don't succumb to the disease but continue to enjoy life despite it.

In the end, it is humour that comes to the rescue of the script.