We have to start by saying that we are not movie critics, which means that we didn’t get to watch every single film that was released this year. Usually, we wait for WOM reactions to films and then we book our tickets. ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Befikre’ were some of the biggest and most anticipated films in 2016. Why? Because India’s 100 % success ratio directors were coming back after a long time. But who knew their comeback was going to be such a waste of time and money. That said, both of these films have the best songs of 2016; that’s the best part of ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Befikre’. What made these films the worst of 2016 is because they generated a level of hype, but couldn’t match it once the films released. It’s also disappointing that directors that made good and sensible (NRIs-based) films are now making senseless films. This reminds us of a time when Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hain), Karan Johar (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) and Aditya Chopra (Mohabbatein) were new in the industry and someone mentioned how Subash Ghai, Rajiv Rai and the other outdated directors should learn from these newbies. How time has changed now!

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Befikre

Aditya Chopra’s Befikre – Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor

Aditya Chopra directed ‘Befikre’ and his last directed film before that was ‘Jab Tak Hain Jaan’, no wait, it was ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. You know why we know he didn’t fully direct JTHJ? Because in the making of the film, Yash Chopra (his dad) said that he doesn’t like his films to have any vulgarity. Speaking of vulgarity, ‘Befikre’ was supposed to be this huge comeback film of Aditya Chopra. Right before he announced ‘Befikre’, he issued a statement in which he said he imagined having a conversation with his dad and this is what ‘Befikre’ is all about blablabla. Maybe he and his dad were high when they were both having this imaginary conversation because even his mother, Pamela Chopra, disapproves of the kinds of films their movie company (Yash Raj) is producing these days. People’s perception of the movie was already negative from the moment they released these kissing pictures. Yash Raj said, wait until you see the trailer. Then the trailer came and what everyone thought of the movie turned out to be true. Still, there was hope that maybe the trailer is deliberately bad because the film is good. But then, the film released and everyone was not disappoint because they all knew it was going to be bad.

Where and how do we start with ‘Befikre’? Let’s start the same way you go for a full-body X-Ray: the head! What in the world is wrong with Aditya Chopra? Why does he keep encouraging his actresses to go under the knife. It’s clear he financed Vaani Kapoor’s surgeries because she said she has no money to afford cosmetic surgery. The way she looked in ‘Befikre’ was such a huge distraction and a contrast to the attitude and confidence her character was showing througout the whole film. To her defense, Vaani claimed that the weather was so cold in Paris, which made her jaw appear wider and her face frozen. So according to her, Paris during winter makes your face looks all botoxed. Maybe that’s where Aamir Khan shot ‘Dhoom 3’! Aside from Vaani’s face, there were many other things wrong with ‘Befikre’. It felt a waste of time and money that even Ranveer’s bare butt couldn’t make up for!

Ranveer Singh will be fine after this whole ‘Befikre’ tamasha will be over and it won’t be that big of a hit. But what about Vaani Kapoor? Poor girl had to wait so long to be in this film and now with her altered looks, will she find movies to do? Maybe Aditya will still find her films or direct films for her, who knows?

According to Aditya, this movie is a depiction of today’s generation and their take on love. We don’t know which generation, from which planet is he talking about because 99% of the people that watched both the trailer and the film panned the movie. To make it short, he’s just hanging out with the wrong young crowd at Yash Raj studios. Or maybe everyone around him is too scared to say anything, in case Aditya orders them to have plastic surgery. But according to the blind items, this movie was like a vacation trip for Adi. We won’t say the rest, if you keep in touch with the blind items, you know where we are heading with this.

Censor Board too friendly or too strict?

Everyone was wondering since the Censor Board is so strict now, how did they let Ranveer Singh’s butt-naked shot be there in the film? What about that many kisses? It was said that they had an objection to the kisses in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and asked Karan Johar to trim it down or at least, cut it down. Then, someone mentioned how the Censor Board chief, Pahlaj Nihalani, is actually a friend of Aditya Chopra. That does explain a lot. On his part, Mr. Nihalani gave an interview to The Quint where he discussed why he let that butt shot and the numerous kisses be seen on screen. To be honest, it’s the weirdest explanation ever!

We shortened Ranveer Singh’s butt shot quite a lot (in ‘Befikre’). Right now it’s just a glimpse, no more. What’s wrong with it? He is alone with his girlfriend in a room. They are doing what couples do when they are alone. Why is a butt shot objectionable? We’ve allowed butt shots in some recent Hollywood films. Also in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Jail’. – Pahlaj Nihalani on censoring Befikre

See, unlike ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, ‘Spectre’ or ‘Tamasha’ where the kisses were done in lengthy shots, in ‘Befikre’ the kisses are scattered and largely fleeting and all over the place. They are part of the narration. As a filmmaker, I know what can be cut without hampering the flow of the narrative. In ‘Befikre’ there is no way we could cut the kisses without interrupting the flow of the story. Aditya Chopra has treated the kisses as part of the story. If we removed the kisses we’d be hampering the storytelling. – Pahlaj Nihalani comparing Befikre to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

 

Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil – Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Fawad Khan and Aishwarya Rai

Compared to ‘Befikre’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ managed to get positive reviews, especially from critics. People loved the teaser and the songs, but when trailer released, everyone realised that it’s pretty much the same story plot from every Ranbir Kapoor film. To top it off, Aamir Khan said that he loved the film and that Ranbir is one of the best actors ever. You know we know that? Remember we mentioned in “Don’t believe Aamir Khan when he talks about other films and actors” that there was this old lady, who went to watch ADHM just because Aamir said it was really good. She literally was saying how in the world did Aamir Khan like such a disgusting film, right after watching it and coming out of the theatres. We thought the film was a waste of time and nonsensical, but then this blind item came out on this movie and how it’s the biopic of Karan Johar. Also, the fact that Ranbir kept saying that it’s Karan’s life story all while promoting ADHM made the blind item sound really true. Maybe Karan needed to make this film to get all of this out of his system. It’s pretty much how counselling works and probably what the doctor advised. Compared to ‘Befikre’, ADHM is a 100-crore film and is considered a hit. We don’t know who went to watch the film since most people commented how bad the film is. To us, it looked similar to Imran Khan’s comeback film ‘Katti Batti’. Like all Karan Johar films, on the outside it looked like a great product. It’s only when you get a taste of it that you realise it’s all about packaging.

The hype surrounding ADHM before its release made a lot of people want to see it. All because of Fawad Khan’s presence in the film and the fact that a part of the storyline was based in Lahore got people really mad. No one, especially Karan, could have seen this happening. In fact, while making this film, he realised how much Fawad added to his other home production release ‘Kapoor & Sons’ that he made Fawad’s role bigger in the film. Never in his or Sonam Kapoor’s wild dreams could they have thought the mess that Fawad Khan’s presence caused for the film. Karan had to bribe people to ensure ADHM’s release. He definitely edited some Fawad scenes in his films and reset Lahore to Lucknow in the film. As for Fawad’s appearance in the film, he looked a little different. Like he did not have enough rest or something. If these blind items are of any truth about him, alcohol might as well be the reason why.

About ADHM, you know how it is in movies when songs come on and you get annoyed. Well in ADHM, it was a relief when the songs came on because you get taken away from the bad storyline. How can we speak about ADHM and not mention Aishwarya Rai? Since Anushka Sharma didn’t deliver anything new, Aishwarya was presented from a different and new angle in ADHM. It’s amazing how she turned herself around into the way her character appeared on screen. We are talking about how she was criticised for all the weight she put on during and after her pregnancy and to come back the way she did in ADHM is truly something. Of course, she has had help, but it was so good for her since it didn’t show onscreen or off screen. As for her scenes onscreen, it was like a quiet slap to the Bachchans and the so-called values they like to preach in public. To be fair, how can they be OK with their married daughter hanging out with another star in town and not be happy with what their daughter-in-law is doing only onscreen?

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