Partner

The best thing about watching Partner was that I finally got to see Govinda really dance. And, boy, can he ever! His fluid movements made even the mighty Salman Khan look insecure.


The movie was, however, a reminder to myself that I may not be fully ready for comedy a la Bollywood. I enjoyed Jhoom Barabar Jhoom because it used its emptiness to be funny, but Partner wasn't really that type of film. Although I did get a few good laughs (Salman Khan's car being vandalized, Govinda being bum rushed at airport security...), most of the time I thought the movie was just chaotic. Then again, maybe I can only tolerate Govinda's voice in small doses (as in Salaam-E-Ishq), because I tend to find it annoying after awhile.

Salman Khan's no comedic genius, either, but he actually did better than I anticipated. This could be because his character, Prem, was supposed to be played with certain airs, something I think comes naturally for him. It could also be because of the way he treated Lara Dutta's Naina when he found out she had a son. They were a package deal, and Prem was more than willing to accept them both. Finally, Bollywood decides to show single mothers some love, too! And considering my opinion of Salman, it was very refreshing to see his character react this way, particularly when he popped up at the mall and told Naina a man should be "a husband in the drawing room, a boyfriend in the bedroom, and a cook in the kitchen." I'm not going to argue with you there, Sallu!

It's probably already common knowledge that Partner is Bollywood's attempt to duplicate Hitch. I decided before I started watching that I wasn't going to compare the two, but as the movie progressed I realized that was nearly impossible. Some of the scenes were direct copycats, which hurt Partner because it set the bar too high for Govinda and Salman. If there was one thing I loved about Hitch, it was the smooth comedy between Will Smith and Kevin James. Salman and Govinda were fun to watch onscreen (especially during the songs), but weren't that good.

Not only that, but Partner was about 45 minutes too long and didn't flow the way Hitch did. Since there was nothing really unique that would make Partner stand out from Hitch (other than the single mother bit), there is absolutely no reason for me to ever watch Partner again. I'll just rent the better-made Hollywood version.

Ahh, but alas, the real question of Partner is what kind of fashion statement whoever dressed Salman Khan was trying to make. One minute he looked like a wannabe gangsta, the next he was wearing a Tweety shirt. And although the black wifebeater/red scarf looked nice, it was hardly something I would have chosen for a "Love Guru".

I do have one final reason to thank Partner, though. I finally got my payoff for sitting through Don: The Chase Begins Again, which was this: I "got" the whole Chota Don spoof.

So Partner wasn't a total waste of the two dollars it cost me to rent it.

Text (c) 2008 Nida Nazir Link to Home