Partner

I was really geared up to watch when two of best movie critics tagged this movie as a 'laugh riot'. But the movie turned out be disappointing.

You will be advised to watch this movie keeping your brains at home but you simply can't ignore the flaws and the shortcomings.

1. The missile scene was total stupidity.

2. Katrina Kaif and Govinda pair looked awful. (He's 49 and she's just 24... more than double of her age) 3. Salman's comedy is less of acting and more of overacting.

4. Songs are good but interrupts the pace of the movie.

5. Some scenes were deliberately attempted by the movie makers to be funny, and 6. Poor and flawed story.

However, there are few pluses- 1. Govinda. Great Individual Performance.

2. Some scenes are actually quite funny.

3. Kattrina Kaif. Looks and Acting keeps on improving with every film.

4. Rajpal Yadav's Don sequences. Though under-utilized but hilarious.

So 4 good points, 6 bad ones.. this one gets 4/10.

David Dhawan never really stood for originality or high production values, but what he did stand for was entertainment both for the masses to an extent even the classes, and he always did it with loads of inspiration and simple film making techniques.

Lets analyse a typical David Dhavan checklist before and during the making of the movie.(Maybe hes an engineer like me).

1)Find a hit movie for the foundation of your film.(Hollywood preferred but Chinese and old Hindi films will do just as well).

CHECK. (need i mention Hitch).

Originality was sacrificed for a guaranteed funny film, and people were still laughing even when the inspiration was a Hindi movie (Bawarchi).

2)Find or formulate a good comic pair.(normally 2 stars but a star and comedian will do remember infamous Shakti/Govinda pair).

CHECK. (In this case free publicity as well being the comeback film of his favourite star).

The chemistry between the lead pair does wonders and is the only thing holding this movie together.

3)Watch DVDs of other hit films for other gags and sequences.

CHECK. (Jerry Mcguire the other big inspiration).

Again this guarantees some good jokes and till they showed a clip of the movie i killing myself to remember the inspiration behind Lara Datta.

4)Add a couple of good looking actresses who mostly just sing and dance.

CHECK. (Lara actually had a bigger role than Katrina).

Once again Katrina looked smoking and once again I profess my love for her, even if it means ill die by Salmans hand.

5)Add some emotional scenes.

CHECK.

Probably the worst part of this movie, these were handled so badly that the lesser said the better.

6)Add some cameos, comic tracks by the inform comic actors etc.

CHECK.

Rajpal Yadav whos way past Johnny Lever on the annoyance index when you cant spook DON YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

SO WHAT WENT WRONG...

Although the jokes always were more important than the story, the story always flowed with the jokes, in this case 2 strong inspirations and SOME REALLY REALLY SHODDY SCRIPT WRITING AND EDITING ENSURE THAT THE MOVIE IS ACTUALLY JARRING THROWING US FROM ONE TRACK TO THE OTHER.

So many tracks are un -needed and left open, while others are added almost as an afterthought. THIS TECHNICALLY THE WORST David DHAWAN FILM THAT I've SEEN.

Katrinas ROLE WAS SACRIFICED FOR GOVINDAS AND almost no attention was paid to their romance, how and when she started liking him is still a mystery.

7)ADD SOME HIT SONGS (most that will last for years).

NOOOOOOO.

Songs were really OK save for one and were added at the worst times, there was a collective gasp when the last song played.

ON A POSITIVE NOTE..

This movie had the best spoof of Aamir Khan i have ever scene i was falling out my seat laughing at that particular scene and was the best scene in the movie for me.

This movie has some other good scenes as the end (which was to sexual to be in a family movie but I'm sure to be laughing when i see it alone on TV).

The jokes were funny and no-doubt will be even more funnier when watched alone on reruns on TV. (save for Deewane-Mastane which was brilliant this how I've enjoyed most of David Dhawans films, un -inhibited in the quite confines of my home).

David DHAWAN MOVIES WILL ALWAYS HAVE LOADS OF JOKES THAT WILL BE HATED, ENJOYED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE at different times, I've always had a different reactions to his movies when i watch short spans of it on TV.

So we have a movie that was almost a typical David Dhawan masala film but fell well short thanks to lacklustre songs and THE WORST FILM TECHNICALLY I HAVE SEEN IN YEARS.

CAN even be avoided and watched later, definitely not the must watch despite the hype, fans like me will come out just about satisfied.

-s TECHNICAL DISASTER (to put it mildly),OK songs,Rajpal Yadav,THE END MAKES IT ALMOST UNSAFE FOR FAMILY VIEWING.

+/-s David Dhawan formula you may like it one day only to hate it the other, wild swings expected during the same movie.

+s formula works to some extent, couple of hilarious sequences, SUPERB CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE LEADS.

total 5/10 (did fall below my OK expectations (i expect to enjoy his movie much more at home alone on TV) didn't even match up to MUjhse Shaadi..)

If you look at all of David Dhawan's best entertainers that also worked at the box office - Aankhen, Coolie No.1, Biwi No.1, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and now Partner to name a few - the pacing of the films is very crisp. This could also be attributed to the fact that Dhawan was an editor before he became a director. His most entertaining films have the right surface elements - gloss, production values, catchy music and star value. But invariably, they are a good marriage of editing and screenplay. And then the x factor - chemistry of the protagonists on screen and their chemistry with Dhawan during the making. In Partner it is Govinda and Salman Khan who light up the screen.

Including Partner, Dhawan has made 38 films as a director - 20 of them have worked at the box office. 17 of those 20 have featured Govinda or Salman Khan. Except for Karisma Kapoor or Sushmita Sen in a few of them, the ladies are mere eye candy in most of them. Partner is a through and through entertainer - start to finish - as a Dhawan film is always meant to be.

Yes, the premise of Partner is a straight lift from Hitch and so are a few of the scenes in the film. I have seen both and thoroughly enjoyed both. But you cannot compare the two. The sensibilities, the arc of the individual stories are like apples and oranges. 9 Dhawan films released between 2000 and 2003 - only Jodi No.1 worked. Since then Partner is only his 4th release and his third hit. The one film a year thing is really working for him.

Govinda has had a second birth courtesy Salaam-e-Ishq and now Partner. It is surprising that Salman and Govinda have not worked opposite each other earlier. It is so funny that I would conclude this from a frivolous masala entertainer like Parter, but something tells me that David Dhawan will be making some amazing dramas, thrillers and black comedies some years down the road and Govinda and Salman will become phenomenal and iconic character actors 10-15 years from now.

When I saw the trailer of Partner, I knew right away that the shameless director David Dhawan has stolen another Hollywood flick as his "inspiration". Partner is a plagiarized copy of the Will Smith-starrer Hitch.

Everything that happened from the first reel to the very last frame in this movie was an awful pain for me. I just couldn't digest the typical Bollywood dose of endless songs and comedy scenes. And to make matters even worse, the brainless filmmaker has added stupid plot angles like Lara Dutta's son who has no father and Rajpal Yadav's track as Chota Don. Horrible!

Govinda looked old but his comic timing was not too bad, especially his scenes in the office cabin with Salman. But watching him dance was painful as usual. Salman Khan reprises the Will Smith role in Hitch diligently in his own inimitable style. Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif had nothing to do but look good and fake in front of the camera.

The music of the film is surprisingly worth listening to but the placement of the songs look forced and songs pop out now and then without any valid reason.

Fortunately for the first time in Bollywood history, the makers of Partner have been sued for copying a Hollywood flick. But no legal action had been taken!

It makes you laugh now and then, but it falls short of being a laugh riot. David Dhawan's movie Partner works because Govinda shows traces of his old comic self once again.

One would be stupid to expect some sense out of a David Dhawan flick. He is the man who can give a humorous twist to hogwash. His brand of comedy is strictly slapstick, and pretty enjoyable at that. And 'Partner', his comeback film after a gap of one-and-a-half years, does carry a good dose of comedy. But it is certainly not among Dhawan's best works.

Govinda is the backbone of the film. Salman Khan , sharing almost equal footage, provides him good support. Besides their performances, it is the script that makes the movie click. The plot may be flimsy, but the dialogue are far from banal.

The comedy in the dialogue is in rhyme. The film has many more hilarious dialogue like these with rhyming words.

'Partner' tells the story of a Love Guru and his follower. Prem (Salman Khan) was born to be a love guru. He was born among girls, grew up among girls and now he gives advice and guidance to people about how to woo girls.

Enters Bhaskar (Govinda), a chubby, bespectacled dreamer who is in love with his stunningly beautiful boss, Priya ( Katrina Kaif ), a multi-millionaire heiress of Jaisingh group of industries. When Bhaskar asks Prem for tips to win Priya's heart, the love guru laughs off and tells Bhaskar to forget her.

After a bit of persuasion and a series of minor misadventures in Phuket, Prem agrees to guide Bhaskar.

On a different front, Prem falls for Naina ( Lara Dutta ), a journalist who keeps bumping into him while running away from the underworld's 'dreaded' Chhota Don (Rajpal Yadav).

The two love stories move ahead. With more than a little help from Love Guru, Bhaskar is able to make a notable impression on Priya and win her affection. On the other hand, Prem makes his advances on Naina.

Things take a turn when Priya's father fixes her marriage with a foreigner. This is when Bhaskar arrives on the marriage scene to win her hand. And just when it seems that both Bhaskar and Prem's respective love stories would have a happy ending, there comes another twist. Their secret is exposed.

The comedy in 'Partner' is not cerebral. It is not so high on wit as on slapstick. The jokes and the gags have a ethnic, street flavor. And there are some dialogues that are indeed hilarious.

When gangster Chhota Don (who speaks in cricket lingo all the time) gets wet by a kid's urine in a toilet, he says: pitch is wet now. Or whenever Govinda gets too happy he begins weeping and exclaims: Itni Khushi!.

There is no doubt about the fact that the chemistry between Govinda and Salman is groovy. There is not a single scene in the film in which either of them tries to outdo the other. Despite this, Govinda dominates the proceedings simply because of his superb comic timing. The actor is rediscovering his old magical touch again. Salman, too, gives a few moments of laughter, but he is no match for his chubby partner.

The ladies don't have much to do in this film. Yet, Katrina Kaif looks amazingly beautiful. Lara Dutta plays her part well. Rajpal Yadav is strictly okay.

'Partner' could have done without the Chhota Don track (featuring Rajpal Yadav in a spoof on SRK's 'Don'). Even Rajat Bedi's character (that of a womanizer) is half-baked, though it has some significance in the plot. And there are certain sequences that are completely out of sync. For instance, Salman on a motorboat, dodging a killer rocket. Or Salman getting bullied by a little kid.

'Partner' may be heavily inspired from the Hollywood film 'Hitch' but the comedy in it is very ethnic. The music by Sajid-Wajid is funky and goes well with the film's theme.

All said, the best sequence of 'Partner' comes in the end, when both Govinda and Salman are having their honeymoon in adjacent rooms. In this final sequence comes the comedy that will have you in splits.