Plot

This is a story about love, friendship and music. Two copywriter brothers have lost in pop music contest called Jhankaar Beats for the last two years. They take the help of an apprentice to compete in a music contest.

The jobs of "Sholay" obsessed Deep and Rishi are on the line with their advertising firm if they do not come up with a one-liner for Mr. Roy's condoms. While Deep resides with his pregnant wife, Shanti, and a daughter, Muskaan; Rishi has separated from his wife, Nicki, and depends on Shanti for meals, apprehending a bitter divorce. When the time comes close to delivering her child, Shanti's mom moves in them temporarily, much to the chagrin of Deep. Shanti would like Nicki and Rishi to meet and patch-up their differences, however, Rishi knows that Nicki is having an affair with her attorney, and is not inclined in this direction. The main obsession for Deep and Rishi is Bollywood's music maestro, Rahul Dev Burman; and 'Jhankaar Beats' a contest they had competed to win in vain. With the deadline for Mr. Roy's one-liner closing in, Rishi gets an offer to work in America, jeopardizing any chance the group may have for competing in the upcoming 'Jhankaar Beats'.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

A tribute to R. D. Burman. Jhankaar Beats is a story about love, friendship, and music. Deep (Sanjay Suri) is happily married to Shanti (Juhi Chawla), with a little daughter Muskaan (Ikraa Khatri) and another baby on the way. Rishi (Rahul Bose) is his best friend and colleague at an advertising agency called Hyphen Advertising. Rishi is a little immature and stubborn and this keeps on causing fights at home with his equally headstrong wife Nicki (Rinke Khanna).

Rishi and Deep are dedicated musicians, obsessive about the music of R.D. Burman. They play at a club sometimes and compete in an annual pop music contest called "Jhankaar Beats" which they have lost for the past two years. Rishi and Deep are also obsessive fans of the movie Sholay and keep quizzing each other on the most intricate details of the movie like, who was Gabbar's father, and who was the 2nd Hari in the movie. They have philosophical discussions over whether Basanti danced to save her own skin, or for the sake of love and Viru.

Rishi has been kicked out of his house by Nicki and the two are considering getting a divorce. Deep's nagging mother-in-law (Shashikala) has come for a two-month visit. Deep's mother-in-law is a very nagging person and keeps complaining that Deep is not doing enough to make Shanti's life comfortable by hiring servants and other help.

Divorce lawyer of Nicki (Parmeet Sethi) annoys Rishi no end as he is very handsome. His own lawyer is Absent-minded Mr. Deboo (Kurush Deboo). Nicki is angry with Rishi as he does not understand what her issues are. Nicki thinks Rishi has spent too much time on his music and the competitions, while Rishi hates her window shopping and wasteful expenditures. Rishi is also angry that Nicki has never supported his participation in Jhankaar beats. Nicki had inadvertently said that perhaps Rishi and Deep are not good enough to win Jhankaar Beats and her support would have made no difference.

Rishi tells Deep that he thinks Nicki is having sex with her lawyer.

Mr. Kapoor (Vijayendra Ghatge) is the owner of the ad agency where both Rishi and Deep work. He is constantly asking about progress on the condom account and guys haven't worked on it. The men are under pressure to get an advertising campaign ready for a new client, an oddball condom manufacturer Mr. Roy, who likes to pick his nose. Mr Roy is looking for a one-liner based on which he will award the whole campaign to the agency. Rishi makes something up last minute and attracts the ire of Mr Kapoor.

Around this time, they meet Neel (Shayan Munshi), who is the son of their boss Mr. Kapoor and is joining the company. Neel is an ace guitarist who has his own problems - he is attracted to a pretty girl, Preeti (Riya Sen) but cannot muster the courage to talk to her. To make things worse, his father has decided that he is wasting his life and has given him an ultimatum - find a girl in two months or settle down with a wife his parents choose.

Rishi and Deep, though they tease him mercilessly, grow very fond of Neel, and he has a sure ally in Shanti. Shanti, meanwhile, is trying to get Rishi to see sense and make up with Nicki. Shanti tells Neel not to play for Rishi and deep unless they help him win over Preeti.

Rishi and Deep, in the middle of hilarious situations, eventually end up making Neel talk to Preeti while also making sure they practice for the upcoming Jhankaar Beats competition. Meanwhile, Rishi gets a good offer to work outside the country but decides against it as he feels he wants to give another chance to him and Nicki.

The guys see condom company owner talking to owner of rival ad firm Ms. Voluptuous (Archana Puran Singh). Kapoor has convinced the owner to give their company another chance.

Deep wants to buy a secondhand keyboard for the upcoming Jhankaar Beats, but Shanti asks him to reconsider given that their 2nd child is on the way. Deep gets really offended and says that he has been saving for 2 years and Shanti was selfish in deciding to have a 2nd kid, when she knew that Deep's passion was in music. Neel tries to talk to Preeti, but it bombs badly as Preeti refuses his offer of ice-cream and dinner. Deep and Rishi help Neel by serenading Preeti at a local church, by singing a song about God. She finally accepts Neel's proposal and starts dating him.

One night, the guys get into the rival ad company's office late at night and find the owner discussing the condom ad campaign with her client's competitor. Turns out the condom manufacturer's competitor had hired her to run a bad campaign to wipe out his rival from the market. The guys blackmail the ad company owner and win the condom ad campaign account for themselves.

Rishi goes to reconcile with Nicki. He finds Nicki with the lawyer. In reality she is only talking about getting back together with Rishi, but Rishi thinks she is having sex with the lawyer and leaves. Rishi takes a job from Mr Kapoor that requires him to relocate to US.

On the day of the competition, Rishi is leaving for the airport, much to the anger and disappointment of Deep, who had considered Rishi a brother and is now leaving him.

On the way to the airport, the taxi plays an R.D. Burman song on the radio, and Rishi realizes he is actually leaving his family. Deep and Neel on the way to the competition are surprised by Rishi turning up, and they decide to do a cover of an R.D. Burman song for their performance, regardless of the outcome.

The film ends by showing Deep, Rishi, and Neal having won the competition finally and forming a band. Rishi eventually puts his ego aside and apologizes to Nicki. Deep becomes a father and names his son after their idol.