Partner Movie Review

Partner - You wanna 'Partner'? Of course yes!

You wanna 'Partner'? Of course I wanna do that! And why not? After all the fun, masti and mazaa that David Dhawan, Govinda and Salman Khan bring on screen for those rocking 150 minutes is something that I won't trade for anything else on the screen!

Let's not even get into the debate of who is better out here? Is it Govinda who shows that some-men-never-change as he gets into an impromptu 'Sarkaile Lo Khatia' act? Or is Salman who gets topless at least 3 times in the film and even takes a dig on himself saying that 'he is always ready for such a thing'?

As a cupid, Salman's job is to get two hearts meet. But doing so for Govinda, whose heart roots for his boss Katrina, is one humongous task. Reasons are aplenty. In spite of being an IIM Ahmedabad graduate, he doesn't know how to attract the attention of someone towards him. What knows is to blow a whistle, dance in as 'desi' style as possible, shed uncontrollable 'khushi-ke-aansoon' while blowing his nose the hardest way possible, walk into his MNC office while forgetting to put his pants on, worry about kissing in v/s kissing out and above all require coaching classes even for 'how-to-have-a-honeymoon'!

So is the 'idiot' from BHEJA FRY? Is he the nerd from JAAN-E-MANN? Is he the Mr. How-do-I-propose from KYA LOVE STORY HAI? No, none of them. He is plain and simple Govinda. And when it is Govinda, he is simply unique!

The uniqueness is demonstrated in the way he carries some of his DEEWANA MASTANA antics to PARTNER. Remember the jumping-while-walking act? Or the childish way of speaking some dialogues? All of that makes one relive the nostalgia that one has from Dhawan and Govinda combo that had given 10 odd hits and superhits.

Salman has his own style quotient that only enhances further in the presence of Govinda due to sheer contrasting factor. His now-famous westernized accent works in a big way for PARTNER while his comic timing, especially in the scenes with Govinda, brings the house down. As someone who shares a love-hate relation with his disciple, he creates a cracker of an atmosphere that doesn't have a single dull moment.

Sanjay Chhel's dialogues work wonders for the movie as more often than not, they are laced with wit and humor. Salim-Sulaiman's background music is of the kind that you are used to hearing in Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra films. Funky and exciting. Cinematography gives the film a young and vibrant look throughout.

Any roadblocks? Well, a couple of them. Beyond a point, the Salman-Lara track just doesn't lift the proceedings. Ok, so finally he manages to woo his 'Mumbai Massala' tabloid gossip journalist but the single mother angle followed by all the misunderstandings towards the end is just so irrelevant to the plot. Moreover the 'chota don' act by Rajpal Yadav falls flat. Surprising, because one would have expected nothing but the best with Rajpal doing a spoof on DON. Except for a stray laugh or two, there isn't much that the 'don' angle works for the film and in the end disappears completely.

Even Rajat Bedi-Aarti Chhabaria episode in the latter reels of the films threatens to take the sheen away from the rollicking outing one had been having with Govinda and Salman. Pray why include extras when audience can't have enough from the leads alone? Agreed that the story's culmination may have required some dramatic angle to be pushed in, but why at the cost of comedy? To cut the long story short, save for the climax, the penultimate 20 minutes are plain disappointing and should have come to the notice of a merciless editor.

Thankfully, the film reaches an all time high with an extended climax that again brings back the euphoria of the fantabulous first haf. You know you are in for something special as Salman-Lara and Govinda-Katrina celebrate their honeymoon in adjacent suits. Govinda's request for Salman to teach him about honeymoon-tips even as the latter is in the middle of the act (literally) is a riot which makes you forgive Dhawan for all the fiasco created before this sequence. Icing on the cake is in the end title rolls when the recorded version of Salman-Govinda live performance for a recently conducted award function is played.

While Govinda and/or Salman are present in each of the frames of the films, the one who gets the maximum laughs after them is Suresh Menon. As a gay wedding-planner, he is tremendous. Lara Dutta comes up with yet another confident act while Katrina Kaif, who is mainly required to look cute and play barbie doll to perfection, is simply picture perfect. Rajpal Yadav is plain average while Rajat Bedi, Aarti Chhabaria, Tilu Tulsania, Ali Asgar and Dalip Tahil just do not add to the plot. In fact from supporting actors, only Deepshikha (playing Salman's sister) makes an impact.

Coming to the tunes of the film, music by Sajid-Wajid is an asset as each of the tracks works quite well with the narrative. Though there are songs aplenty, each of them are entertaining with the title song setting the base. 'Maria', 'Love', 'Dupatta' and 'Soni De Nakhre' are good too with choreography of each of the five songs getting the required vibrancy.

Insane, unbelievable,  mad, stupid, nonsense - all of these factors come together to make you go 'now-what-was-that'? But does any of this make a difference to you rolling over with laughter on your seats? No ways! This is why PARTNER turns out to be one whale of a ride that makes you clap hard, cheer loud, shed tears while laughing hard and root for Govinda and Salman. The duo demonstrate such a crackling chemistry on screen that one fails to understand why the two never came together ever since Salman made his debut 17 years back?