'Jodi Breakers': Quite A Pairing, This!

With its release today, the makers of Jodi Breakers will definitely heave a sigh of relief. After all, the Ashwini Chaudhary release has been embroiled in controversies ever since the people behind the French hit, Heartbreaker, accused it of plagiarising its story line. And post a viewing, there's little resemblance between the Romain Duris-Vanessa Paradis starrer, and the new Madhavan-Bipasha rom-com.

Well, that's the good news, at least. The twist in the tale is that while Jodi Breakers is definitely an original attempt, with a storyline that's 'hatke' and performances that charm, the film doesn't quite become what it could have been.

Jodi Breakers follows the story of Sid (Madhavan) and Sonali (Bipasha Basu), who play the titular 'jodi breakers', or divorce experts. While Sid is himself a cynical divorcee, Sonali is a romantic who still believes in love and believes that divorce is for people who still haven't found the 'right one' yet. However, as their own professional relationship begins to turn into something right, they come upon a rift, as they engineer the break-up of Mark Pereira (Milind Soman) and his 'mistress' Maggie (Dipannita), only to realise that the two are meant to be together. Trying to get Mark and Maggie back together, Sid and Sonali discover something of their own.

With an unconventional pairing in the topline, the film draws on some strong performances from both Madhavan and Bipasha. For Basu, it's her first rom-com outing and she excels as the light-hearted Sonali here. For Madhavan, though, it's a bit of a struggle, initially, to slip into the role of a divorced bachelor. As the film proceeds, though, the talented actor does a fine job as the uncharacteristically grey Sid. The unlikely chemistry between Bips and Maddy adds a lot to the film too.

The two find great support in Omi Vaidya, who plays Nano, their sex-maniac of a friend. Omi's Nano is a throwback to his breakout role of 'Chatur' in 3 Idiots, but the act is yet to get old, and Vaidya gets the top laughs of the film.

Milind Soman and Dipannita get secondary characters and try to do their best, though the two ex-models still turn out quite stone-faced. It's great to see the legendary Helen back in action here, though her role as Mark's sweet, angelic granny is quite cliched.

It is in the treatment that the film goes wrong. The director, Ashwini Chaudhary can't get a steady pace for his narrative, rushing through the first half, Sid and Sonali's meeting, their partnership, the development of their romance, only to dawdle in the second half. For a rom-com, Chaudhary also lets the film get a bit too melodramatic in the second half, as the track with Mark and Maggie comes in. There's no doubt that the film could have been better edited.

With the landscapes of Goa and Greece in the backdrop, the film's cinematography offers quite a few memorable visuals.

The music, from Salim-Suleiman, has their trademark touch, and manages to hit the mark. However, one wishes tracks like darmiyan and kunwara could have been used better.

Overall, Jodi Breakers is a film worth a watch, at least. Though it has its flaws, the hatke storyline does set it apart from the regular run-of-the-mill affairs that Bollywood usually offers.

A Pair Of Aces For Salim-Suleiman

It's an odd pairing, between R. Madhavan and Bipasha Basu. But then, that pairing is half the reason why most people are curious about Ashwini Chaudhary's Jodi Breakers. With the romantic comedy set for a late February release, the film's soundtrack, composed by Salim-Suleiman, with lyrics by Irshad Kamil, is beginning to gather some fair buzz of its own now and deserves a look into.
 
There's something irresistible about the wedding shehnai-like hook right at the beginning of kunwara, which reels you in instantly. Though the hook is actually being played on a melodica, the contrast of the classical sound interspersing an otherwise completely electronic arrangement, created by Karsh Kale, makes this track superbly catchy. Salim Merchant is in his element on vocals here, and recreates the magic he worked on ainvayi ainvayi, in the Band Baaja Baarat OST. The core melody of the track bears a faint resemblance to the hit number as well, but that can be taken as the quintessential Salim-Suleiman touch. High on energy and recall, 'kunwara' has the potential to turn into one of the big hits of the year.
 
After the high of kunwara, the second entry on the soundtrack, Bipasha turns out to be something of a downer. Though one can presume that Bipasha Basu will be seen scorching the screen on this number, the track itself seems to lack that certain pizzazz, that verve that every successful item number needs. Shradha Pandit does fairly well on vocals here, backed up by Shadab Faridi, but the track's Middle Eastern-sounding melody offers nothing truly memorable. Instead, producers Abhijit Vaghani and Tanuj Tiku deserve praise for their later remix of the track, which actually manages to bring in a fair few electronic hooks to make the track dance-floor worthy.
 
Shafqat Amanat Ali and Clinton Cerejo partner on vocals on darmiyaan, with the former taking the lead on the slow, silvery number. Arranged around some light stringwork and gentle percussion, the track takes its time to unfold, but stays with one once it does. Irshad Kamil's lyrics deserve attention here, and the pacing of the track allows that. The introduction of the harmonium in the final third of the track is like adding a beauty spot on the number and deserves a listen. The track is reprised in a much slower, but just as beautiful version later down the playlist by Shreya Ghoshal.
 
Salim Merchant is back on vocals on mujhko teri zaroorat hai, accompanied by Shadab Faridi and Shradha Pandit. The track, with a prominent electrical guitar and drum section, has a clear soft rock influence. Built around a beautiful tune, the romantic number turns out to be quite charming, but Jatin Sharma manages to turn the track on its head in his featured remix later down. While retaining the guitar, he turns it into an out and out club number with the addition of a whole load of electronic sounds, while replacing Salim on leads with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Between the two versions, though, perhaps the original version will find more takers.
 
The final track on the album, jab main tumhare saath hun, brings Benny Dayal and Shilpa Rao on vocals, along with Salim. Though it starts off slow, with Shilpa on vocals, the track picks up in Benny's refrains. The track is arranged almost entirely around synthesised sounds, and manages to make a mark with its melody, making for a good closer for the album.
 
Though there are just a couple of tracks here that are truly outstanding, Salim-Suleiman's work on the Jodi Breakers soundtrack is worth a listen. Kunwara and darmiyaan are the definite picks of the album, but the rest of the stuff here isn't bad either. Though Jodi Breakers isn't their best work by far, Salim-Suleiman have always managed to deliver when it comes to romantic comedies such as this, and this soundtrack is just another example of that.