Tuesday, February 01, 2011

#47: Break Ke Baad



If you could get past the sheer charm that Deepika Padukone exudes in her role as Aaliya, if you could breathe even after seeing her back in that sexy saree in the opening song and if you needed to stare at anything else beyond her in the movie, ladies and gentlemen let me break this up for you in the very beginning- this movie is not meant for you. And I know reading this (if you are amongst those select tasteful few) review, you're wondering if the author is a school teenager smitten by Deepika rather than an unbiased movie critic. But let me assure you, with a hand on my heart, if you're not a Deepika Padukone fan, there are not too many other reasons for you to be watching this movie.

It has to be choices of roles in movies like this that saw Aamir Khan recently going on record to say that Ranbir is a better actor than Imran Khan. Barring Kidnap, you can take any of the movies that Imran has done and you can conduct this interesting experiment in your head. Interchange Imran's character in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na to Imran's character in I Hate Luv Storys. Now interchange that with Imran's character in Break Ke Baad. You could run this as a Spot the Difference column in a newspaper for a year and you won't have anyone coming up with any difference. And that is just one of the pitfalls of Break Ke Baad. This is not to say that the movie is bad. It's just predictably boring- just like Imran's character.

Deepika plays the free-spirited and ambitious Aaliya while Abhay (Imran Khan) plays her protective boyfriend reluctantly managing his Dad's business. Aaliya leaves for Australia to pursue higher studies and the relationship starts experiencing strain with the distance between her and Abhay. Whether their relationship survives this equation forms the crux of the movie. A couple of hummable numbers in Adhoore Hum and Dooriyan keep your senses kicking but again Vishal-Shekhar only repeat that familiar sound of music that we're so used to since their Dostana days. While Yudi plays a smart and funny common friend, an actress of the caliber of Shahana Goswami is wasted in an eminently forgettable role that only sees her making appearances in skimpy sports bras.

Break Ke Baad is a good reminder in asking ourselves the question as to why do we watch movies? If you ask this question to ten people at least a few would answer that we watch movies to see things that we haven't seen before and relish the new and the unpredictable. A few more would say for good actors - actors who evoke the same emotions in us that the characters are going through. The remaining would then probably say- for a great story. I just didn't think a movie like Break Ke Baad could qualify as a movie to watch on any of the above parameters.

Rating: 3/10

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

watched this movie just a day before you did (going my date of the post)...and i truly agree with you - Imraan was wasted and Deepika was the focus of every frame (I could just dream about getting a toned body like hers to carry off those sarees and dresses and shorts...hmmm). Made my MIL and hubby go through the movie as well( to whom hindi movies are foreign language movies which they can understand only with english subtitles ) - the former couldnt understand Deepika's histrionics and my hubby didnt find a story or good music....and as for me...i thought the movie 'aisha' would score a 0.1 over this one in my rating scale. - ammu

IssacMJ said...

Imran Khan is wasting his time. Somebody needs to select his roles for him. :-) . Oh btw your comment about Aisha gives me an idea to review that this week!

Bollywood movies mediafire links said...

thanks for providing this