Film

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Name: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Genre: Romance, Drama
Released: 2016
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Fawad Khan, Lisa Haydon

A 2016 Bollywood romantic drama about a man caught between unrequited love for a free-spirited woman and a genuine connection with someone else. Lush with music, gorgeously shot, emotionally messy—it's for anyone who's felt torn between who they want and who wants them. Karan Johar at his most romantic and indulgent.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a lush, music-soaked romance about loving someone who cannot love you back, and you don't mind your heartstrings being worked over with operatic sincerity.

Skip it if you find glossy Bollywood melodrama wearing thin, since at nearly two and a half hours its sentiment is laid on generously and rarely held back.

What it asks of you: Two and a half hours of sustained feeling, with songs breaking up long passages of ache, and patience for stretches that linger on longing rather than move quickly.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Tamasha2015

Another Ranbir Kapoor romance about identity, connection, and whether two people can truly know each other. Features similar emotional complexity and stunning cinematography across exotic locations.

But The narrative can feel self-consciously artsy, and the pacing occasionally loses momentum in its own philosophical tangents.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani2013

Ranbir reunites with director Karan Johar for a story about love, friendship, and life choices. It has the same warm ensemble feeling and explores how people grow apart and together over time.

But Much lighter in tone than Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, so if you want the emotional weight, this feels more like a celebration than a reckoning.

Raazi2018

Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in an intimate, character-driven story set during partition. It shares the same commitment to emotional authenticity and features Arijit Singh's understated, haunting music.

But It's a spy thriller first and romance second, so the love story serves the plot rather than driving it.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Norwegian Wood2010

Both explore the inability to move on from a soulmate connection; one through Bollywood spectacle, one through Japanese quietude.

Tran Anh Hung's Haruki Murakami adaptation about a man haunted by love lost and unable to connect with the present. It's melancholic, meditative, and uses silence as powerfully as music—exploring the same emotional territory through an entirely different cultural lens.

But It's very slow, very still, and utterly uninterested in plot mechanics or closure. If you need propulsion, it will feel like watching paint dry.

Jab We Met2007

Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in a road trip romance that balances lightness with genuine emotional stakes. The chemistry feels effortless and the film trusts its characters' complexity.

But It's considerably shorter and breezier, lacking the orchestral melodrama some viewers seek in a Bollywood love story.

Dear Zindagi2016

Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt in a quieter, more introspective romance about therapy, self-discovery, and what connection really means. It's contemporary Bollywood that doesn't feel obligated to be a spectacle.

But The therapy-as-romance angle may feel contrived, and it's deliberately understated where Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is lush.

Highway2014

Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda in an unusual love story about freedom and trauma. It's unconventional and deeply felt, with gorgeous cinematography and a willingness to be uncomfortable.

But The subject matter is heavy and disturbing, and the romance develops in morally ambiguous territory that won't appeal to everyone.

Kabali2016

Not a romance, but Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's character work and the film's refusal to sentimentalize its narrative of love and loss. Shows her in a completely different register from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

But It's a Rajinikanth action thriller that swings wildly in tone, and if you're here for the romance, this isn't it.

Aashiqui 22013

A love story about addiction, codependency, and whether you can save someone who doesn't want saving. It's emotionally raw and features some of the best romantic music of the last decade.

But The emotional manipulation is relentless, and by the end it feels more like devastation than catharsis.

Dhadak2018

A Romeo-and-Juliet retelling with Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor that emphasizes class and family conflict. Young, earnest, and genuinely tragic in ways that feel earned.

But It tries hard and doesn't always land; the leads' inexperience sometimes shows in the quieter emotional moments.

(500) Days of Summer2009

Both are about the mythology of the soulmate—but where Ae Dil Hai Mushkil leans into that feeling, this film dismantles it entirely.

A non-linear romantic comedy that deconstructs the fantasy of 'the one' and the ways we mythologize people who don't feel the same way. It's funny, sad, and painfully self-aware about emotional delusion.

But Its ironic distance can feel cold, and if you want to surrender to romance rather than interrogate it, the constant winking becomes exhausting.

In the Mood for Love2000

Both films prioritize the feeling of love over the mechanics of plot, and both suggest that sometimes the most intense romantic connection is the one that remains unresolved.

Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece about two neighbors who discover their spouses are having an affair and develop a tentative romance across repressed glances and rainy streets. Pure visual poetry—every frame is a painting. The romantic longing is palpable without a single kiss.

But It's deliberately paced for mood over narrative, and the color-coded production design can feel more important than character. Patience required.