About How ADHM’s Saba teaches us to love unrequited love

 Love in the post-corona era isn’t the love we remember and reminisce. Just like the masks we wore to protect ourselves, we now protect our hearts through situationships and ghosting. While evading the pain of a broken heart is much easier today, a trip back to Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’s romantic drama instantly transports us back in time. Like so many of us, the juvenile Ayan tries every play in the book to simply win Alizeh, but it is the beguiling Saba who shows the mature, kinder way to love.

Her enigma captures us from the very first frame, in an airport lounge reading a book. Initially annoyed by Ayan’s persistence for small talk, she is quick to understand how he’s deflecting from his pain. She listens to his unfiltered confessions and empathises with him. This empathy evolves beyond a shoulder and a smile, and they soon start a torrid affair in the cinematic streets of Vienna.

Having faced the brunt of a failed marriage and infidelity, Saba is careful yet curious. She seeks the comforts of companionship but steers away from an all-consuming love. But Ayan’s brooding demeanour and child-like quirks change her mind and introduce the viewer to the mature lover’s dilemma.

It almost seems like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was made to play Saba – with her seductive, telling eyes, her beauty and kind heart. She essays the pain a girlfriend feels when the man she loves is still in love with another with grace and maturity. The story that seems to evolve into a triangle shocks us midway, when Saba chooses to let Ayan go.

“Mohobbat karna humaare bas mein nahi hai. Par uss mohobbat se door chale jaana, who humaare bas mein hai.”

These lines told with her teary eyes give us a very unique take on love. She understands the pain of loving someone who doesn’t feel the same. She steers Ayan away from his obsession for Alizeh, and shows him the path of acceptance. Her perspective helps him move on and pour all that angst into his music.

While she doesn’t stay on screen for too long, her presence beautifully embodies the torment of unrequited love. But what stays with the viewer is a fresh perspective – one where it’s okay to just love and walk away peacefully.