Star cast: Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sharmila Tagore, Navin Nischol, Lillette Dubey, Shahana Goswami, Yudhishtir Urs.
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Plot: Imran and Deepika love each other but decide to take a break from one another for a year. The break leads to a breakup. What next?
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What’s Bad: The post-interval portion.
Verdict: Break Ke Baad is for the youth in the cities; its reasonable price is an asset.
Loo break: A couple in the second half.
Reliance Big Pictures and Kunal Kohli Productions’ Break Ke Baad is the story of a young boy and a young girl, who love each other, but then comes a break in their relationship, which leads to a break-up. What happens thereafter?
Abhay Gulati (Imran Khan) and Aaliya (Deepika Padukone) are childhood friends. Their friendship blossoms into love. Aaliya’s life is defined by her burning desire to become an actress and she is so consumed by this that she is unmindful of what or who comes in her way. Abhay, working in his father’s cinema, is unsure about what he wants to do in life. He loves Aaliya very much and is prepared to overlook all her faults and childish qualities.
One day, Aaliya decides to go to Australia for a year for further studies. Abhay is against the idea for fear of losing Aaliya but he gives in when she proposes that they both take a break from one another. Abhay soon finds himself in Australia by his girlfriend’s side because he senses, he might lose her. This angers Aaliya so much that she decides to break up the relationship completely. She asks him to return to India but he stays on, hoping to get Aaliya back into his life. Helping Abhay are their new friends in Australia – Nadia (Shahana Goswami) whose house Abhay and Aaliya have rented, and Cyrus (Yudhishtir Urs).
Abhay returns to India when, after trying hard, he is unable to convince Aaliya to revive their relationship. To win her over while in Australia, Abhay also starts his own little business in Australia. However, Aaliya, who had promised to only complete a course in mass communication there, also takes up an acting assignment that comes her way.
Back in India, does Abhay decide to forget Aaliya? Is Aaliya able to erase Abhay out of her thoughts while in Australia? What eventually happens after the break and break-up?
Script & Screenplay
Danish Aslam and Renuka Kunzru’s story is quite interesting because it is about how young lovers in today’s age and time behave – they are in love at one moment and out of it the next moment. It captures the volatility of modern-day relationships effectively. But Renuka Kunzru’s screenplay is good in parts only and, moreover, it is very city-centric. Aaliya’s demand for a break looks convincing but when it comes to a break-up, it seems a bit too contrived, if only because the build-up to the break-up is neither enough nor very convincing. Likewise, Abhay’s struggle to woo Aaliya back looks too easy and half-baked what with an ever-helpful friend like Nadia by his side, who makes everything in a foreign land seem so easy for him. In short, the break does engage the viewers but the break-up rarely tugs at the heart strings because somewhere, it begins to look fake and resting on a shaky foundation.
Since the break-up doesn’t sadden the heart, the audience doesn’t root for the lovers to come back together as much as it should in a love story like this. In other words, the love story works upto a point, not thereafter. Absence of hit music in a youthful and modern love story like the one this is, is a drawback.
Structurally, the drama is quite engaging till interval but drops down quite badly post-interval. The interest level of the audience picks up towards the climax but it is also true that the ending is predictable. What works very well in the film is the racy first half and the entertaining dialogues between Abhay and Aaliya. What doesn’t quite work is the second half and the absence of entertaining dialogues between the two. Renuka Kunzru’s dialogues are very well-written. Overall, the film and its humour would impress mainly the youngsters, that too, in the big cities.
Star Performances
Imran Khan does well. In many scenes, he has to play subservient to his lady love and he does that very convincingly. Deepika Padukone is fantastic. She lives the role of Aaliya and delivers a performance that will be remembered for a long time. She looks extremely glamorous and carries off her sexy costumes (Ayesha Dasgupta) with élan. Sharmila Tagore ably does what is required of her as Aaliya’s mother. Navin Nischol is fair. Lillette Dubey is endearing and supremely natural. Shahana Goswami also shines. Yudhishtir Urs leaves a lovely mark and evokes laughter at several points. Others in the cast lend able support.
Direction, Music & Editing
Danish Aslam makes a confident debut as a director. His directorial touches in several scenes underline the fact that he knows his job and is a director with a promising future. Vishal-Shekhar’s music should’ve been better because this youthful love story definitely needed hit and super-hit songs. ‘Adhoore’ is the best song, followed by ‘Ajab leher hai’ and ‘Dooriyaan hai zaroori’, all effectively penned by Prasoon Joshi. Song picturisations are good but could’ve done with far more novelty. Andre Menezes’ cinematography is eye-filling. Hitesh Sonik’s background score is good. Editing (Anand Subaya) is crisp.
The Last Word
On the whole, Break Ke Baad is entertaining break (interval) ke pehle but not equally so break ke baad. Given its reasonable cost (less than Rs. 30 crore) on the one hand and its impressive recoveries from non-theatrical revenue streams and reasonably good initial on the other, it should prove to be an earning proposition for all concerned.
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