Partner - A Movie Review

Cast: Salman Khan, Govinda, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif and Rajpal Yadav
Director: David Dhawan
Rating: **1/2 (Not bad at all)

It’s a jolly well accepted norm that you have to leave reason and logic behind at home to enjoy typical David Dhawan comedies. His latest ‘Partner’ too abides by the norm and for Dhawan film loyalists, the film will be entertaining.

‘Partner’ brings forth the comic pairing of Salman Khan and Govinda with success. David Dhawan has delivered majority hits with Govinda in the 90s wherein his pairing worked well with the likes of Sunjay Dutt and it’s like returning back to his roots for the actor who only recently made his Bollywood comeback. And despite the ageing and the weight and two recent misses ('Salaam-e- Ishq' and 'Bhagam Bhag'), one realizes that he still shows no sign of rust while doing what he is best at.

The film which has undertones of the Will Smith and Eva Mendes Hollywood flick ‘Hitch’ has Salman Khan playing the cool dude Prem (yet again), the ‘love guru’, one who sets up dates and has solutions to all problems connected to the heart. Govinda’s character Bhaskar Diwakar Choudhary is the ‘simple bumpkin but good hearted type’ who is desperate for some of Salman’s ‘gyan’ as he thinks he is the only one who can get him the lady of his dreams, the sophisticated heiress Priya (Katrina Kaif). There after follow their travails, adventures, misadventures wherein the comic timings and chemistry of the two get displayed full on.

In between Salman meets and falls in love with single mom Naina (Lara Dutta) and tries to get close to her bratty yet cute son. There is also some amount of special effects thrown in (watch the scene where Salman is chased by the missile his nephew makes). Foreign locations pass off as Mumbai but as said earlier don’t look for reason and logic here. That’s how the world of make believe is supposed to be in Bollywood comedy king David Dhawan’s films!

The film does have some hilarious moments and the one that deserves special mention is towards the end when Govinda keeps barging into Salman’s suite for advice on how to go ahead with his honeymoon. Sanjay Chhel’s peppy and witty dialogues help throughout as they succeed in stirring up laughter.

Some of the situations in the film are clichéd and chances are, they won’t appeal to the elite audience. Especially things like Lara printing the ‘love guru’ scandal in the paper she works for without confirming things with the love of her life, Salman are a little too hard to digest.

Camera work is topnotch and the frames look nice and colorful. The locations are appealing. Sajid Wajid’s music is foot tapping. The title song and ‘you are my love’ stand out. ‘You are my love’ deserves special mention as it has been choreographed and picturised well and scores with its international feel. However the placements of some of the songs don’t feel quite right. Again typical of a David Dhawan mindless masala entertainer!

Govinda is in form and ditto for Salman who looks stylish and hep throughout. He is his usual self and the distinctive Salman style is visible, complete with facial histrionics and all. The film belongs to Salman and Govinda and the ladies do what they are supposed to – provide support. Lara suits the role and must say her styling is really nice. Katrina too looks pretty and since the role is not very demanding, she doesn’t disappoint. The boy who plays Lara Dutta’s son does a good job.

Deepshikha, Rajat Bedi and Aarti Chhabria play really small roles and don’t have anything much to do. Surprisingly, the talented Rajpal Yadav as chota don (spoofing Don) too doesn’t get much of a chance to display his skills. Interestingly, producer Sohail Khan of the ‘Khandan’ is seen in a photo frame (way to make one’s presence felt?) as Deepshikha’s hubby.

All in all, recommended for the masses, especially all die hard David Dhawan/Salman/Govinda fans and those who have a soft corner for pure masala flicks.