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.

Partner - A Movie Review

Album: Partner

Singers: Wajid, Shaan, Udit Narayan, Suzi Q, Clington, Shweta Pandit, Earl, Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala, Labh Jajua, Sneha Pant, Sajid, Sunidhi Chauhan

Music Director:Sajid-Wajid

Lyrics: Sanjay Chhel, Shabbir Ahmed, Jalees Sherwani

Rating: **

Music directors Sajid-Wajid used to be known for their melodious compositions; the duo were behind all of Sonu Nigam's initial albums including Deewana, Jaan and Yaad, but never really achieved the same success in their film compositions. Although Partner is not a great album, it is definitely better than some of Sajid-Wajid's recent work like The Killer, Jaane Hoga Kya, Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar etc. The problem with Partner is that none of the songs have originality but at the same time with a David Dhawan, Govinda and Salman combination, most listeners will not be expecting anything truly melodious or earth shattering compositions, but rather some fun numbers which will be further uplifted by the visuals.

The album begins with 'Do You Wanna Partner', sung mainly by Shaan and Udit Narayan. This song is the best of the album with some interesting combinations of musical styles and some fun lyrics like "lekin kintu parantu bandhu" by Sanjay Chhel. The song starts out with some swing music which immediately reminds you of 'Tumse Mili Nazar To Asar' from Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chhati Hoon. Although the song is fun and peppy, there is nothing striking or original about it to the extent that even the sounds and instruments such as the brass and percussion combinations are very clichéd. The music in between the chorus and verse could have been a bit more interesting but all in all this track is fun from the onset and will want to make you get up and dance. As is the normal trend, these is a remix version of the song which is nothing to rave about but will achieve the purpose of giving something to DJs to blare at the discs.

The next track is 'You're My Love', sung by Shaan and Shweta Pandit. The song has very catchy flute (basuri) combined with a reggae / R&B style beats which makes for a very interesting listen. Again, nothing really original and it gives you a heard it before feel, but nonetheless worth a listen and the remix version will also find liking at discs.

'Dupatta Tera Nau Rang Da' reminds us that no Hindi film track is complete without a dupatta number. The number combines techno with a Punjabi flavour and gives the feeling that the song will be enhanced by the visuals. Sonu Nigam and Kunal Ghanjawala's voice blend very well together but Shreya Ghosal's voice seems a bit dull for this number and one can not help but wish that she had sung this number with a little bit more peppiness and masti like her male counterparts to suit the mood of the song.

'Soni De Nakhre' starts off with a very 70s disco sound and feel to it, and then quickly transcends into a hard core Punjabi, Jazzy B style number. This is definitely for the pucca North Indians and the NRI Punjabis living abroad, and the lyrics are Punjabi as well. The voice of Laabh Janjuwa is extremely distinct although it will not suit either Salman or Govinda and Sneha Pandit also does a decent job.

The last song is 'Maria Maria' which immediately gives you a hangover of several numbers including the Latino beats and style used in Dhoom 2 for "Dil Lage Na Dil" and "Touch Me" as well as the song "Osaka Mariya" from One Two Ka Four and so although the song is average, it gives nothing to rave about because you feel as though you have heard similar sounds and combinations in the past. Even the violin portions have been heard before.

Overall, Partner can at best be considered an average album since the songs are worth a once listen but don't give you much to want to keep listening to them over and over. Other than Do You Wanna Partner, the lyrics are also very clichéd and hence while listening to the album you feel as though all the songs are extremely familiar. Nonetheless with the Salman and Govinda combination, the picturization of the songs will add to their appeal and Do You Wanna Partner is a track which will probably climb the charts in the coming weeks. Simply put, the songs are fun to listen to once, but aren't anything great to add to your music collection.

Source - Movietalkies.com