aakash-vasa

Who are the idiots who downvoted this episode just for the sake of denying it the perfect ten?

Seems like some Game of Thrones fans couldn't bear to see their show getting beaten by what's simply the greatest drama in television history.

Just before the final act of Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, the brilliantly orchestrated title track begins, with a close-up of Ranbir Kapoor, lip-syncing in earnest, to Arijit Singh's melancholy voice. It is an uncharacteristically long shot. A shot that focuses on his somber, unflinching, eyes. It requires an actor of Kapoor's caliber to maintain that intense gaze for a minute and a half, such that even the beautiful song is relegated to the background.

The journey leading up to the said song (and the song itself) is trademark Karan Johar, and yet it isn't. The movie has his cinematic stamp all over it, what with the sheer Bollywood-ness of the proceedings. However, this time around, he lends each character a certain credibility, rather than the larger-than-life, family- value-toting protagonists that he usually prefers.

Make no mistake, this isn't a movie with amped-up pathos, and unnecessary slow-mo shots. Surprisingly, neither is the movie about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, but more on that later. Superfluousness takes a backseat, and instead the characters live, laugh, talk, love and even hate like any normal person would.

Ranbir Kapoor's Ayan Sanger is a budding singer stuck doing MBA in London, per his wealthy father's wishes. He chances upon Alizeh at a party, and one meet-cute and two sloppy kisses later, they become friends.

Both are shown to be Bollywood fanatics, as evidenced by them constantly hamming dialogues from popular movies of the past. There is even a nifty little sequence in the beginning where both Ayan and Alizeh make pop-culture references straight from Dharma Productions' movie list.

They get along well, too well, in-fact. Ayan falls for Alizeh, but she doesn't reciprocate that attraction. Her past love, Ali (Fawad Khan) resurfaces, and she gets married to him. How Ayan copes with not getting the love that he so passionately yearns for from Alizeh forms the rest of the story.

Pop-culture would give Ayan's predicament a cringe-worthy name - being 'friendzoned'. It is a pathetically convenient term to an unfortunate, complex situation. Johar, who has confessed that this movie is semi-autobiographical, goes out of his way to convince us that the 'friendzone' isn't really a terrible thing, and succeeds.

As far as the performances go, Kapoor is mesmerizing. He borrows various aspects of his personality from his past characters - the angst of a broken heart from Rockstar, the man-child behavior from Wake Up Sid, and his vulnerability from Tamasha, bringing all of them together to add another feather to his stellar acting cap.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who essays the role of a poet (Saba) who Ayan has a (primarily sexual) relationship with, while trying to move on from Alizeh, is the biggest disappointment of the movie. She has barely fifteen minutes of screen time and one song. Johar portrays her like an ethereal goddess, her character is scarcely believable. A world- famous divorcée poetess living in Vienna looking for a fling, conjuring up Urdu couplets for breakfast just isn't convincing enough, in a movie trying it's best to be grounded in reality. It seemed like Johar was so happy with himself that he managed to finally direct Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, that he forgot to give her a role.

Fawad Khan has two scenes and three dialogues in the entire film. That's a costly fifty million rupees!

Speaking of Khans, Johar's favourite Khan, makes a fleeting appearance, espousing the central idea of the film in a crucial piece of dialogue, paving the way for the film's denouement.

But this movie's show-stopper is Anushka Sharma. Alizeh is a complex character to play, simply because she becomes the 'villain' of sorts. And yet, you can't help empathize with her. Sharma, in her best acting performance till date, wins you over. Whether she is embracing her Bollywood-fan-girl dreams, resigning to the fact that she's still in love with her ex-boyfriend, or breaking down at the sheer helplessness of the situation she finds herself in, Alizeh is the character you want to root for, throughout the movie.

There is a scene, the only one with the troika, referencing Noor Jehan's famous rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's words. As Ayan completes aliases recital of 'Mujhse pehli si mohabbat', with the devastating 'mere mehboob na maang', Alizeh's piercing eyes could smash a thousand glasses. That look alone, is worth the price of the ticket.

The movie makes use of songs beautifully. Two of them, the title track and Bulleya, have gone on to become chart-busters, and their depiction on-screen, is perfect. The highlight of the soundtrack, though, is Channa Mereya, a typical Johar tearjerker, which plays out during what is the movie's best-acted scene.

'Friendship over love' is an ideal that has tasted little to no success in Bollywood. What impressed me most was Johar's resistance to going with the conventional movie ending, especially considering his body of work. Yes, the last half an hour is a contrived, almost unnecessary final act, which could have been handled better. But for the most part, the direction is top-notch.

What is most surprising about this venture is how Johar manages to make the film remain realistic throughout the ups and downs of the characters. There is no magnum opus feel; protagonists don't wait for background music to support them while proclaiming dramatic dialogues. Instead, Johar focuses on establishing the fact that love need not be limited to romance, underlined by Alizeh's last-ditch appeal to Ayan in the film's climax. Disproving Mohnish Behl's infamous line from Maine Pyaar Kiya is no mean feat, but Johar, through Alizeh and Ayan, does it with utmost grace and conviction.

In his debut movie, Johar convinced us that friendship is love. With this one, he drives through the point that love is friendship, and I couldn't agree more. Sorry, Shah Rukh Khan, but this adage rings true more than that one ever could. 'What's the difference?', an apathetic person would ask. Everything.

The pre-movie disclaimer, a pretty standard one these days, drew a chuckle out of me. It went:

"The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any resemblance to the names, characters or history of any person living or dead is coincidental and unintentional."

Seriously, Aditya Chopra, you think anyone is going to buy that?

For Fan is anything but coincidental or unintentional. It's a film that was waiting to be made since the day Shah Rukh Khan became a superstar. It's also a reminder of why titles like 'King Khan' and 'Baadshah of Bollywood' were coined for the man.

The story centers on the eponymous fan and his misplaced sense of entitlement from his idol, both of whom are played by Khan.

As the fan, Gaurav Chandna, behind the jaw-dropping visual effects and makeup, lies a Shah Rukh Khan, stripped of all his stardom and completely vulnerable. After going through the motions in his last few pointless money-spinners, Khan shows us that when he starts acting, not many can match him.

Delhi-boy Gaurav's complete and utter surrender to his idol is brilliantly showcased, right from his room decked with photos of his idol (named Aryan Khanna), the wallpapers of the computers in the cyber café that he runs, to the need to travel WT (even at the cost of his life) to Mumbai and stay in the same hotel room that his hero stayed in.

Very soon, that fanaticism turns to hatred when his bubble breaks after the meeting with Aryan doesn't go as planned. Then the movie moves swiftly to London, Croatia and back to the by-lanes of Delhi, as Gaurav decides to destroy Aryan.

Maneesh Sharma's experiments with this movie are not just limited to a unique storyline. It's an action-packed thriller, devoid of any songs and without a lead actress or a semblance of a romantic track.

What I was expecting (and missed sorely) was more nods to Shah Rukh Khan's past works, and his journey and rise to become a superstar. A brilliant mela performance right at the beginning of the movie captures Khan's performances through the years. And, there's a song or two from his movies playing in the background, but that's about it.

If only Sharma had been bold enough to blur the line between fiction and reality, Fan would have made for a deeply intriguing watch. For starters, Shah Rukh Khan should have played himself, with his own name. Hiding behind the facade of Aryan Khanna robs the movie from a bit of its spunk.

Twice in the movie, there are establishing shots of Khan's home in Mumbai, Mannat. The scores of fans that rush towards it as he makes an appearance just to have a glimpse of their idol, is so beautifully captured, and goose-bump-inducing, mainly because it's inexplicably true. As the movie makes clear, such is the madness and utter passion of the fans, that even the actor who they are fans of, can't seem to grapple with it.

By no means is Fan a perfect movie. It is strewn with logical inconsistencies throughout. For instance, Gaurav's uncanny resemblance to Aryan isn't noticed by anyone for half the movie. A middle-class boy from Delhi seems to have unending resources to travel to London and Croatia, and also has direct access to the mobile number of the biggest superstar in the country.

A couple of chase sequences, while beautifully captured by cinematographer Manu Anand, seem to go on and on, while the climax isn't entirely going to please a legion of SRK faithfuls.

However, all of that is overshadowed in comparison to the fan himself. Gaurav Chandna is a Shah Rukh Khan protagonist antagonist (?) that will further cement his legacy. He brings together the maniacal obsession of Rahul Mehra (Darr) and the ruthless, vindictive streak of Ajay Malhotra (Baazigar).

This movie is strictly for Shah Rukh Khan loyalists, those of us who've 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed when he tells Simran to 'palat', or when he brings Pooja 'aur paas' or when he's talking about the importance of 'sattar minute', or scores of other moments that have made men and women alike, swoon over him.

Go watch Fan to remember why you fell in love with Shah Rukh Khan in the first place.

And for anyone who finds this movie ludicrous, rehne de, tu nahi samjhega.