MUMBAI: Every now and then Bollywood comes up with regular romantic comedies that do not go beyond preset parameters. There is too much of screenplay and literally no story in the film. The entire narrative is stretched on a single conflict and most of the storytelling happens through songs.
Adhering to Bollywood customs, there is an attempt to avert a wedding in the climax. You can anticipate the end by the interval yet the predictable plot never comes to the point. Nevertheless you are supposed to ‘feel good’ about the film since the makers can’t come up with ‘better’ narratives. Abhay (Imran Khan) and Aaliyah (Deepika Padukone) are childhood sweethearts.
She is too ambitious and he hasn’t figured out what he wants to do in life. Yet, as Kunal Kohli established in ‘Hum Tum’ that a boy and a girl can never be friends, Abhay and Aaliyah are very much in love. Problem starts when Aaliyah shifts to Australia for higher studies and Abhay starts feeling insecure. Soon he too lands up in the country and an impulsive fight leads to their breakup.
Abhay checks in as Aaliyah’s neighbour and with the girl-next-door plot on Australian grounds, director Danish Aslam welcomes ‘Salaam Namaste’ memories (directed by another Kunal Kohli assistant – Siddharth Anand). NRI siblings (Shahana Goswami – Yudishtir) provide accommodation to the Indian lovebirds in their sea-facing apartment without caring much about rent.
Practically nothing happens in the first half and break ke baad the film gets slow, stretched, boring and banal. Like the beach-side backdrop, Renuka Kunzru’s screenplay is breezy and blithe but absolutely devoid of any twists or turns, lending no graph to the narrative. However Kunzru comes up with very tongue-in-cheek dialogues that add spark to the otherwise predictable plot, though the speed and spontaneity of the lines may make you miss the punch at times.
The supposed surprise in the end is too lame to be unpredictable. The styling and cinematography of candy floss cinema is always polished to perfection. Vishal-Shekhar’s music is peppy. Anand Subaya’s editing is smooth. Deepika and Imran share good chemistry and, though both are in their comfort zone thanks to their familiar characterizations, they are fairly decent in their acts.
Also Imran is comparatively relaxed with his lip movements this time around. Shahana Goswami lends good support. Yudishtir shows a flair for comedy. Lilette Dubey gets the best lines. While it is certainly not bad, there is nothing path-breaking about ‘Break Ke Baad’ either. It’s time our filmmakers break free from the clutter of such conventional romantic comedies. It’s time to move on from such breakup boredom.
