“A girl and a guy can never be friends!”

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil portrays the most essential feelings most of us go through – Love, heartbreak, One Sided Love and Friendship.  If you think this is a romantic movie, it isn’t. It really isn’t. But it does give a good insight into the broad subject of “relationships”.  I wouldn’t say it is a great movie, it isn’t bad either. What? Why? Why do I think this movie is good? May be it has something to do with love. I want to understand Love, in all forms. It is easy for me sit and look at the people in love and judge them for all the lovey-dovey things they do or don’t, but I have never been at the receiving end or the giving end. So, it is visual field day to experience through the stories of others.

Art doesn’t have boundaries. It shouldn’t.

There were quite a lot of things happening around the movie “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”. According to the tabloids, first of all Mr. Bachchan wasn’t too happy with the intimate scenes with Aishwarya Rai and Ranbir Kapoor. I don’t know how much of it is to be believed. But it was nothing compared to what came next. The movie almost got banned. Actually, it did get banned for and the reason being it harboring anti-nationalist actors. It is a harsh word to say anti-national, but lets say artist from another country who are in war with us. And the recent attacks just sparked the much needed debate on whether we should allow artists from the country we are in war with to work in a this country. There have been many statements, debates and whatnot, but the war isn’t over yet. But after a generous plea from the Director, the MNS allowed the screening of the movie provided the director contributed to the  Army Retirement Fund, which was apparently cut down.  And this again speculated another stream of debates and agitation, which I think is common these days. Nonetheless, the movie was released on 28th October.

One sided love? It is the most beautiful relationship one can have. Because it is not divided among two people. It is just one person, wholly and completely, undisputed.

It is a movie made by Indian Director, casting consists of Indian artists, and yet people have boycotted to watch the movie. “Art doesn’t have boundaries”, if we are in a war with a country. I hope people understand this. But well, a few of my friends have boycotted to even watch and I liked the movie. Like I have mentioned, it is not as great as a Notebook, because romantic genre. No, the movie streamlines us into the concept of heartbreaks, love and friendships with the initial trailer and the title song of the movie has pain in it, if you listen to it which is still my favorite song. What I liked about the movie is how it tries to distinguish the different kind of relationships we encounter. Let me brief you on my take on this.

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A rich MBA student who own a private jet meets this gorgeous girl who was dancing on her own and they hit it off. They were different, yet crazy, but somehow compatible. They share about the stories about each other. The girl is already in love, she always was, but broke up and is trying to cope up. He has a girl friend, who loves him for the money. She was seeing a family friend who could potentially be her new husband. But things don’t go so well for both of them when they realize that both of their partners hooked with each other. So, to get their mind off all this relationship failure, they head to Paris in his private jet.While they are enjoying the night clubs, sharing stories about each other, fulfilling h their bollywood fantasies, he realizes that he is too lucky to have her company. He knows that they share a bond, unique in its own way. They were having a great time, until she comes her college crush and her ex boyfriend, whom she had loved so much. She knows that she can’t go back to that place which left her with an void, she knows that she loves him more than anyone, and that there was no one else who could replace him however crazy the love might be. She not only gets back with the lost love, she even decided to marry him. The friend who was still doing his MBA can’t really digest the new revelation from her, because deep down he knew that he loved her very much. And the thought of this third guy between the two of them was hard to digest. While he honors his friends wish to attend her marriage,  he travels and arrives at the marriage, but after confessing his love for her he couldn’t stay till the end of the marriage. He was left heart broken. He know he loves her very much, he also knows that she loves him too. But the reason so as to why she is still marrying him is out of his understanding. He is a sensitive guy, little too sensitive perhaps. And he is devastated and just can’t bear the thought of her being with someone other than him. So, he leaves abruptly without any explanation.

Why don’t you understand? I love you very much. But not the kind of love you want. You know what I mean?

So, while he travels back to finish his studies, he meets another charming girl at the Airport. Now, you might be wondering what is he doing in the Airport lounge when he owns a private jet. We shouldn’t ask such questions. So, since he was heartbroken and a little drunk, he pours out his heart to her while she listens to him very patiently. She shows him a different perspective to look at things, which fascinates him. He had completely cut off his ties with his friend who had got married, but he still couldn’t forget her. She was the inspiration to his songs, his new girl friend was the distraction he wanted. But amidst all this chaos, she was still a constant reminder of what he could have had. While accompanying his new girlfriend, he understands the meaning and the power of one sided love, and also about how a guy and a girl can be friends even after they had lived and were married to each other. Realization struck him and he immediately calls her and talks and reconnects and they meet. The new girlfriend, being the mature lady she was and an artist in herself who understands and have had passed through the similar path, doesn’t want to revisit it and hence breaks off with him for the benefit of them both. The once MBA student, now a YouTube singer is again heartbroken and makes more songs. And in one such world tours comes across the news that his friend who married her college love, has left him and is MIA for quite some time. He tracks he down, because he still loves her the same way he always had only to find that she was suffering with Cancer. I know. Life’s a bitch. But still, as he cares for her and that he still loves her dearly, he voluntarily takes care of her. But he does one mistake. He knows that he loves her. He also knows that she loves him. So, he thought that the love they both share is of the same kind. But she tell him that she loves him, but the love he wants from her. He loves him as a friend. His mistake was thinking that a boy and a girl can never be friends. It takes him a night to realize this that he was wrong in so many ways.

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The movie revolves around this relationship which most of us overlook. When people are affectionate and care for us, that does mean that they love us, but it doesn’t mean that they love us as lovers. They love us as friends. And the love is different, completely different. And I like the movie for this one reason. She could have just accepted his love for her and could have come ahead with living together, until she lived. But she didn’t. She was quite confident in they type of love she had and didn’t let anyone or anything say it otherwise. That was why she married her love, because she knew that that was what she wanted. Then when he confessed his love twice, she still told him that she loved him but it was out of friendship and that it is more powerful than the one she shared with her husband. She believed in her love, more than others. This is the one good part.

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I went to the movie not because I like romantic movies, but as mentioned because I don’t understand romance and also that there was so much controversy with this and I wanted to celebrate art, the work of the artists, beyond boundaries. These things happened after I had watched the movie :

a. People still hated the movie, for reasons of their own. I don’t really care though.
b. When my roommates were planning to go and informed that I went, they just couldn’t believe that I went to a ‘romantic’ movie alone.
c. They don’t believe it.
d. They still can’t believe it, given an added fact that I was South Indian.
e. All this not-believing made me understand one thing that these guys don’t even know me properly.