The 2016 Diwali release AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL also came up with an unnecessary insertion hurting a big number of Hindi film music lovers and the die-hard fans of Mohd. Rafi. But the inclusion also revealed a major difference in the vision of two renowned directors of the present times, namely Karan Johar and Imtiaz Ali as seen in their films AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL and ROCKSTAR respectively.
Without mentioning the exact words used in the completely ‘avoidable’ dialogue mentioning one of the most talented as well as humble personality witnessed by our film industry till date, the scene itself has been treated with a confused vision by the director, since at one end it shows Ranbir respectfully touching his ears taking the name of Mohd. Rafi like a true follower, but on the other has Anushka making a downright silly comment over the legend’s incomparable and impeccable singing……… unnecessarily.
Having said that, I am still not in favour of any kind of boycott of the film for such ‘questionable inclusion’ in its dialogues, as its an onscreen expression conceived as well as allowed by both the director Karan Johar and his actors Ranbir and Anushka (surely) without any purposeful intentions. But at the same time, this was quite absurd and unrequired, which could have been easily replaced by another line without making any difference to either the scene or the characters and their characterisations.
For instance, instead of taking specific names, Ranbir could have simply said,
“I love and adore old film songs before the 80s”
and Anushka could have replied,
“I simply hate them as they are pretty slow, sad and depressing”,
exactly like many in the present generation assume them to be due to their own personal reasons and preferences.
In fact no one would have even noticed the particular dialogue in this form and no one would have got hurt in absence of any specific name quoted in the said sequence.
So in my opinion this one upsetting line was quite unintelligent and mean ….… gravely misguiding, misleading and giving seriously wrong suggestions to the generation born post the 1990s.
Ironically the title of the film “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” was also taken from the opening verse of a song sung by Mohd. Rafi for film C.I.D. (1956) and the lead actor Ranbir's father Rishi Kapoor's entire career had a deep relation with the voice of the ever-smiling immortal legend. Interestingly this also reminded me of a famous Rafi song from another Dharma Production's film titled DOSTANA (1980) saying, "Mere Dost Qissa Yeh Kya Ho Gaya, Suna Hai Ke Tu Bewafa Ho Gaya" (perfectly matching the present scenario).
With filmmaking there also comes a responsibility to rightly portray the things and pass on the legacy to the next generation without bringing in your personal likings or misconceptions influencing the young receptive minds.
And this mindless inclusion contradicted and ridiculed that important responsibility….. BIG TIME!
Individually any person like Karan Johar has all the rights to have his own views or conclusions over any specific artist. But in a film, which is a medium reaching out to millions of (unaware young) viewers all over the world, you surely need to be extra careful staying away from any such personal biased conclusions demeaning one of the most loved icons of the past in any manner. Because even if you didn’t mean to, it will always be taken as a deliberate negative comment made purposefully.
Perhaps that’s where the ‘Real Sensibilities’ of a director get revealed representing his own thought process towards such blessed stalwarts and their exceptional body of work cherished since more than half a century in the country and world over.
However let me explain the same with an example of how another director dealt with a similar situation in his film much more intelligently and cautiously having the same star in lead i.e. Ranbir Kapoor.
In his ROCKSTAR director Imtiaz Ali conceived a situation where the upcoming singing sensation Ranbir meets a renowned Shehnai player enacted by the veteran Shammi Kapoor in the office of a reputed audio company. In his one sided conversation with the respected figure Ranbir does make fun of his Shehnai and its traditional art commenting over the repetitions made in Hindustani Classical Music in his own negative and questionable way, but never even once he names any particular real life figure maintaining the dignity of both the film and the art-form displaying a clear thought process of his director.
Probably that’s where you get to see the difference between the vision of a Karan Johar and Imtiaz Ali as two contemporary directors writing and presenting a similar scene in their scripts targeting the young audience………… or probably that’s where the difference lies between ‘a thoughtful film’ and ‘a well marketed glossy product’ largely dependent upon its colourful packaging, clever promotions and the star-value.
Cheers!
