Hindi
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Youthful fun in parts
MUMBAI: ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ deals in romance and music, something that Karan Johar is good at. What is different here is that this film is not about the usual pursuit of love till the families object, then agree and all ends on a happy note.
The film is also not about sacrifices made in the cause of love. The film is supposed to be about contemporary romances where the characters falling in and out of love are on the rebound, the sufferers of failed love. Ranbir Kapoor’s character, however, is a bit different, he seems to fall in love with anybody on two legs wearing skirts.
The film has mostly music-oriented characters in that Ranbir Kapoor is an aspiring singer, Fawad Khan’s character is a DJ while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s is a shayera. The film is splashed with a generous dose of old hits used to fit in the situation. The film is also peppered with cliché-ridden dialogue from old films for fun.
Ranbir is the son of a rich father with even a private jet to his command. In the UK to pursue a course in business management, he meets Anushka Sharma at a pub.
Acquaintance made, Anushka leads him to the pub’s loft with ideas of her own. As kissing begins, Anushka finds Ranbir clumsy and is instantly put off. Anushka has however taken a liking to Ranbir and plans to meet again as friends.
Ranbir is accompanied by his live-in girlfriend, Lisa Haydon, and Anushka is with her family’s choice of a suitor for her, Imran Abbas. The film being about fickle or uncertain relationships.
While Ranbir keeps falling deeper in love with Anushka, she looks at him just as a friend so what if they share the hotel room and bed. That is when, while at a pub, Anushka spots her ex, Fawad Khan, the DJ. Old love is rekindled and they decide to tie the knot. Ranbir is dispatched home heartbroken.
Ranbir is at the airport where he meets Aishwarya, a divorcee. After some romancing with Ranbir, Aishwarya realizes that she still loves her former husband Shah Rukh.
The film starts off with promise and is breezy while Ranbir chases Anushka as most of it is light banter between the two with the use of popular old songs. Come the second half and his romance with Aishwarya is mostly insipid. It is towards the winding-up that the film loses track totally as it gets into a rut bringing in cancer as a compromise conclusion.
The script follows the formula once the initial novelty of modern day Muslim characters played by Anushka, Aishwarya, Fawad and Shah Rukh, living a trendy European lives, ride the merry-go-round of relationships.
Direction shows the Karan Johar’s touch in ambience, music and locales but lacks solid control once the script falters. Dialogue, especially the one-liners, is effective.
The music is a plus point with some good lyrics as songs like “Ae dil hai mushkil…”, “Bulleya…, Channa mereya…” and the Breakup song have popular appeal.
Cinematography is good. Editing wise the film sags often.
Ranbir is cast in a role he has been doing wittingly or otherwise through most of his career; here he lives that role. Anushka excels. Aishwarya is okay. Shah Rukh, Fawad and Lisa Haydon have small parts to be or relevance.
Producers: Hiroo Johar, Karan Johar, Apporva Mehta.
Director: Karan Johar.
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Anushka Sharma, Fawad Khan, Lisa Haydon with Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt in cameo.
Shivaay…Uphill task!
Shivaay is an action thriller. Actor Ajay Devgn wields the megaphone and, when that happens with an actor’s home production, his aspirations as well as ambitions exceed his range as an actor as well as his commercial potential in most cases.
Also, when it comes to nurturing such an ambition, the inspiration tends to come from foreign films. If one maker finds inspiration in a popular theme, many others would have too, leading to the theme being exploited threadbare leaving no novelty in the subject.
Ajay Devgn’s character is that of a mountaineer. He is a sought-after trekker with explorers from all over coming to him. On one of his expeditions, Erika Kaar (a TV actor of Polish origin), is among the climbers under his wing. The climb and attraction between Ajay and Erika are rising on the same scale.
As is the norm in any such risky situation, women are the first to be seen to safety and Erika should have been among them. But, not having her with Ajay would have stalled the progress of the narrative.
The romance in a suspended tent has its effects and Erika, who was packing up to return to her native Bulgaria (in the film she is from Bulgaria) is now pregnant. While Ajay is very keen to have his child, having no family to call his own, Erika wants to have none of it since she has responsibilities of looking after her mother and kin back home.
Erika agrees to deliver the child on the condition that, once delivered, she will return home and have nothing to do with the child ever again. The girl child, Abigail Eames, is now eight years old. She is speech impaired but is bent on seeing her mother.
She is a stubborn child and also apple of Ajay’s eye. He takes her to Bulgaria but Erika is nowhere to be found. Bulgaria seems to be notorious for kidnap and trade of children and Abigail is kidnapped. Ajay’s attempt to save her results in one long action chase but the kidnappers foil his attempts.
Most of what follows now is action and stunts to save Abigail. There is some attempt at creating melodrama at the end, just as there is some in the beginning of the film, but it does not quite work out.
Shivaay tells a familiar story seen on a regular basis in many films and on crime-based television serials. Coating it with romance, adventure, emotions, locations and stunts worth millions don’t change the essence. What it does is to stretch a predictable story to an old-fashioned 172-minute length.
The scripting is loose and allows a lot of liberties without logic. Like, Ajay’s expertise with mountaineering was expected to be used extensively to save the girl considering it takes a lot of footage initially. However, it has just one brief sequence when it is used.
Direction by Ajay Devgn himself shows no spark, no moments of genius; instead, it borders on routine. The penchant for locations and stunts is well justified by cinematography team. Songs have no place but are inserted anyway. The editing is slack.
This is an Ajay Devgn film all the way and he tries to be at his expressive best with the cameras going in tight close-ups on him. He is good in action as always. Erika Kaar is good in romantic scenes.
Vir Das as a computer hack is bad and so is Saurabh Shukla as the Indian ambassador.
Shivaay tries to cram in too much and loses its grip on the narration in the process. It is certainly not an entertainer to regale the Diwali audience. Also, the film needs total acceptance to better Ajay Devgn box office average figures.
Producer/Director: Ajay Devgn.
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Erika Kaar, Sayesha Saigal, Abigail Eames, Vir Das, Girish Karnad, Saurabh Shukla.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
