'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' trailer becomes full blown riddles

Mumbai:All the questions about love and related activities that were raised by the earlier teasers become full-blown riddles in the trailer of Karan Johars Diwali firecracker "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil".

The quadrangle created by the presence of Ranbir Kapoor(exuberant), Anushka Sharma (bubbly), Fawad Khan (intense) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (seductive) is a killer.

The trailer is also a bit of a tease. All four characters seem to be acting as agent provocateurs in a script that favours the flirty feeling and flavours it with sugarcoated drama.

Who loves whom in the tale? Hard to tell. All the four protagonists seem obsessed with a conflict over love and friendship. Ranbir seems to love both Anushka and Aishwarya. Anushka says her nemesis is Fawad Khan. And whom does Aishwarya love?

Aishwarya recites Faiz Ahmed Faiz's immortal lines "Mujhse pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang" to Anushka who savours the words like a child tasting bitter chocolate for the first time.

There is a lot of childlike fun in her interaction with Ranbir. This is a common trait to many of Ranbir's on-screen romantic escapades. The juvenile fun element, like eating watermelons and spitting seeds out in the open, was predominant in his rapport with Priyanka Chopra in "Barfi!" as too in the entire Corsica episode of "Tamasha". In his debut film "Saawariya" too he shared lots of playful moments with his co-star Sonam Kapoor.

The trouble starts when the relationships get serious. The trailer of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" tries hard to remain bouncy, bubbly, naughty and seductive. Within a few seconds the mood deepens into a more pensive take on mismatched liaisons.

The only truism that emerges from Karan's new film is that it is a good looking film with a charismatic cast sustained by witty one-liners and provocative drama.

Just how much of all this drama and conflict has actually gone into the film, remains to be seen.

By Subhash K. Jha