Movie Review: Break Ke Baad

 

Disclaimer: I promise I will not crack any ‘jokes’ about the film being good or bad Break ke pehle or Break ke baad. You’re welcome.

 

Have you ever laid up at night, looking at the sky/stars/the ceiling… all alone, lost in your thoughts… and muttered to yourself, “What would happen if (500) Days of Summer received a slick, sanitized, cookie-cutter-happy-ending Bollywood remake?” If you have ever thought so, then behold: Break Ke Baad is what would happen.

Now, before you jump up on me and recount in multiple ways how Summer is oh-so different from Break, I’ll admit that the latter isn’t a total rip-off of the former. But the similarities in the plot strands are unmistakeable, even if they are unintentional. Anyway, on its own, Break Ke Baad is quite a likeable romantic-comedy and certainly watchable. It’s arguably the best Bollywood film in its genre since Love Aaj Kal (although some would call that faint praise, and they wouldn’t be wrong)

Abhay Gulati (Imran Khan) and Aaliya Khan (Deepika Padukone) are chaddi-buddies (my term, not theirs) and have been dating for around a decade. Aaliya is a headstrong, temperamental and vivacious personality whereas Abhay is naïve, subdued-to-the-point-of-passive. Things come to a head when Aaliya announces that she wants to go to Australia to study for an year (which also includes taking a break from their relationship). Abhay doesn’t like this sudden change of plans and goes to Australia to woo her back. Does he succeed? Does he succeed? I am afraid you’ll have to watch the movie to find that out.

Right off the bat, let me say this: I’ve read many reviews that state this film works well before the interval but falters after it. I disagree. I don’t think this film’s good and bad sections can be categorised so simply. Instead of acts, I think it can be classified much better in terms of characters.

You see, in the 1st half… all the scenes involving Aaliya are fun to watch, mainly because the character itself is nicely sketched and Deepika Padukone has never acted (or looked) better. My favourite scene occurs during the credits, when Aaliya dances on a desk in her class and, umm, there is some fanning. Hilarious. However, in this half, Abhay is such a whiny snot that not only is it hard to sit through scenes featuring *only* him, it is near impossible to sympathize with him when he acts so morose about Aaliya wanting to take a break from him. Heck, I had only spent 20 minutes with him and wanted out… I can only imagine what would have happened had I spent 10 years with him, like Aaliya did. In (500) Days of Summer, it was easy to feel for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom as we had spend sufficient time knowing him and had grown to like him. The same cannot be said for Break Ke Baad and Imran Khan’s Abhay.

On the other hand, in the second half of the film, it is Aaliya who becomes boring and Abhay who turns delightful. As the script demands her to realise the foolishness of her brat behaviour and reform herself, Aaliya loses all her sting, and hence, her appeal. She turns insipid & bland, a stark contrast to her first-half persona. It doesn’t help matters that the sub-plot about her acting dreams and the potential job offer is asinine in its conception & incredulous in its execution. Are we really meant to believe that a first-time actress can dangle an entire production on her fingertips so casually, as she flip-flops between saying yes or no? Meanwhile Abhay realises how much of a cry-baby he has been and starts to reform himself too. The entire montage that depicts this, although very clichéd, is effective. And even if the latter stages of his entrepreneurship are hard to digest (did you look at the size & decor of that second restaurant?!) it’s a welcome change from his earlier arc and much-needed relief from Aaliya’s current one.

I won’t say much about the climax, except that the candy-floss resolution feels unearned, akin to a cop-out. In fact, I know it’s implausible, but I would have preferred an ending where Abhay and Aaliya didn’t get together, as it seemed to fit in the scheme of things better.

As with any other romcom, Break Ke Baad hinges on the performance of, and the chemistry between, its two leads and both Imran & Deepika deliver the goods. As mentioned earlier, this is Deepika’s best performance *ever* and she essays the role of Aaliya superbly. Imran Khan has been hit-or-miss for me so far (mostly miss) but he does a fine job this time around. The two have sizzling chemistry and play-off each other brilliantly. Watch out for the scene where Abhay confronts Aaliya in the toilet about her decision to leave for Australia. What follows is a searing, damaging conversation that sets the bar high for the rest of the movie (which isn’t reached). The supporting cast is adroit, with Shahana Goswami and Naveen Nischol being the standouts. (Edit: I missed out on Yudhisthir Urs as I had confused him with Navin Nischol. Urs is the funniest – and the horniest – person in the film and steals almost every scene he is in. Great work!)

Break Ke Baad marks the first time Danish Aslam has picked up the microphone and based on his work here, he is quite adept. Vishal-Shekhar and Prasoon Joshi collaborate for the first time too and the result is good, though not great. The ‘Adhoore’ track is the highlight of the album.

Wrapping up, I would have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Break Ke Baad. There is much to like here, and the not-rare missteps don’t completely detract from an entertaining whole. Recommended!

(2.5/4)

PS – Tip of the hat to Akshara Pradhan for reminding me about Yudhisthir Urs. Thanks!

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Photo Credit: Kunal Kohli Productions