Ae Dil Hai Mushkil released worldwide on 28 October 2016, coinciding with Diwali. As it turns 10 today, Karan Johar has called it a personal story. We pulled ten lesser-known facts from development to the box office.
1. It borrowed its title from a 1956 classic
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was named after a song from C.I.D. (1956), the film starring Dev Anand, Shakila and Waheeda Rehman. Karan Johar had been developing another story for a year and a half, but the idea came to him in New York and he wrote the screenplay in 30 days.
2. Karan Johar called it a film that came from within
“It is not a conventional love story or love triangle. It’s a film that dwells deeply on relationships, heartbreaks and how love completes you, defines you and yet leaves you wanting for more. I have never had, in my entire career, a film that has come to me so fast, so organically and so from within.”
— Karan Johar, in an interview with The Times of India
3. It was first announced in November 2014
At the time, Johar had previously helmed Student of the Year (2012). He said that for the past year and a half, he had been developing a story that he needed to work on for several months.
4. Principal photography began in London
Principal photography began in September 2015 with Sharma and Kapoor in London. At the end of September, the team filmed some portions in Paris.
5. Vienna brought in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
In October, they began shooting in various locations in Austria, including the city of Vienna. Rai Bachchan joined the crew in Vienna in mid-October after the release of her film Jazbaa (2015).
6. A Rajasthan schedule, then one last Mumbai stretch
In March 2016, Kapoor, Sharma, and Khan were seen filming in Mandawa, Rajasthan. In July 2016, Johar tweeted a photo of Kapoor and Sharma on set in Mumbai for the last schedule.
7. It recovered ₹75 crore before anyone bought a ticket
The film was made on a total budget of over ₹50 crore, including marketing and distribution costs. Prior to its release, it had already recouped ₹75 crore ($11.2 million) from music, satellite and digital rights, so it needed to recover only ₹25 crore ($3.7 million) from the domestic box office.
8. It gave Karan Johar the best debut of his career
Through its opening weekend, it scored a debut of ₹35.60 crore net in its three days on 3,200 screens, equating to a gross ₹49.84 crore. That was the ninth-biggest debut of the year and the best ever debut for Johar, beating My Name is Khan’s ₹315.0 million ($4.7 million).
9. Britain loved it, with an asterisk
In the United Kingdom, it recorded the biggest Bollywood opening of the year with ₹4.88 crore ($772,891), debuting at eighth place at the U.K. box office. Including previews, Sultan would be the clear winner with a $1.3 million debut in July, but excluding previews, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is ahead.
10. It became a blockbuster and Aishwarya’s highest earner
By the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed ₹160.69 crore in India and ₹237.56 crore worldwide, thus becoming a blockbuster at the box office. The film also ranks as the highest-earner for Rai Bachchan, beating Dhoom 2’s ₹82.30 crore ($12.3 million) in 2006.
Which of these Ae Dil Hai Mushkil facts caught you off guard? Tell us your favourite memory of the film.
Facts from Wikipedia: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.