The stage was set, the premise was unique and after several cupids playing their roles on screen we had a serious chance of witnessing something actually different. Jodi Breakers had all the things in the right place prior to its release. R. Madhavan is a name to reckon with in Bollywood and so is Bipasha Basu for sure and she looks beautiful and supremely in shape in Jodi Breakers.

Sadly, Ashwini Chaudhury as a director and a dialogue writer manages to spoil what could have been another good movie right at the start of the year. Jodi Breakers is nothing new despite the basic concept. Sid played by R. Madhavan ends up with a broken marriage and the divorce costs him a fortune. He has nothing and has to plan a new life and a business. But he has the time and luxury to indulge in some clubbing, (Really!). He mentions that he wants to cash in on ‘Love’ and hence embarks on the journey of becoming a Jodi Breaker but one wonders if it has anything to do with his bad fate at marriage.

Enters the beautiful Sonali, our very own Bipasha Basu to liven things up and the next thing you know, the Jodi Breakers are minting money and hopping all over the world. Is it so simple to create a successful business? Well, the director or the writer is not interested in that since they are trying to think of some funny reasons why couples may want to break up. Despite their brainstorming the reasons that the couples come up with are everything but funny.

Alright, here is the basic plot. The Jodi Breakers go on a Jodi Breaking spree until they break their own Jodi and Madhavan aka Sid goes on a damage control mode and starts to amend things. We will not talk about the ending as yet.

Jodi Breakers is not a romantic movie (apart from just a scene or two of the lead pair) nor is it a comedy. The film manages to blend in several genres, takes inspiration from Yash Raj movies and bows down to all the clichéd requirements to make a Bollywood mainstream film today. The only tragedy is that the makers of Jodi Breakers are not masters at the Bollywood craft and perhaps would have been better off with their own styles.

Jodi Breakers could have been so much better had it not succumbed to the romantic elements and had gone through with the hilarious ride and climax accordingly. Alternatively, the movie could have had several proceedings but the writer Akash Kaushik and director Ashwini Chaudhury feel that a lead pair must fall in love, they should end up doing something good even if the story does not demand it and somehow there has to be a smiley ending even if that looks completely alien to the movie’s concept.

The music is nothing great, we have had too many of these. The visuals are nothing new and we have seen the white Greece too many times. Item songs, while a must for Box Office, need to be unique to work. Omi Vaidya was fantastic as Chatur because of the script and it just shows that if the script does not create a great character, no actor can look impressive. Milind Soman and Dipannita Sharma are good as the supporting actors and the lead pair R. Madhavan and Bipasha Basu are just acceptable.

Jodi Breakers perhaps can be a onetime watch but it is neither a great film nor a potential blockbuster. We really need some filmmakers who would dare to challenge conventions and offer us something new or go the Dabangg way where we are not expected to take our brains to the theaters. Wooing in an audience with the hope of showing something unique and delivering below ordinary stuff is nothing but a punishable offense and perhaps box office dud is the punishment.