Partner [2007]

Partner
Reviewed 23.07.07

Expectations? David Dhawan – the name itself builds it’s own group of expectations. You know what to and what not to expect from a David Dhawan film. Don’t look for a classic – look for an entertainer. Don’t look for a film that you’ll want to treasure forever as a cinematic experience of a lifetime – look for a film that will pass your 2/3 hours without you noticing where the time is going, look for a film which you will end up buying on DVD as soon as it hits the stands because you know however many times you watch it one thing is for sure – it will entertain you. Does Partner meet those expectations? Yes, perfectly so. However, the screenplay was a bit weak at times and could’ve been much tighter. Had a further 15/20 minutes been chopped off the film it would’ve been even better then it was.

The soundtrack of the film is outstanding. It’s easily the best soundtrack of the lot from 2007 so far – I love each and every song. Choreography of each song was fabulous also, however as expected from a DD film the songs did pop out of nowhere and for heavens sake there was even a song on the actor speculating what the name of the actress is [Maria]…Nonetheless, the songs were fun to watch even though they didn’t further the story.

Children the film deserves a special section for the children because the children David and Sohail casted are actually superstars in their own right [as none of them were newcomers]! Ali Haji is the cutest child artiste in the world! He’s too adorable… And he’s gone so big now! I loved him so much in Fanaa and Ta Ra Rum Pum – everything about him is lovely and I know he’s gonna grow up and become a hot leading actor haha… He’s fabulous as ever in Partner…I just could not get over how big he has become. Lara was too cute with him [especially those pictures in their house – I wish we had those pics on the net] they looked like a real mum-son… and Salman and Ali looked adorable together too! The little boy from Baabul was in it too right? The boy with specs was him I’m sure? So cute…He’s adorable! Chinky Jaiswal The superstar kid from Indian TV … haha I was really surprised to see her…she was even in Kkusum and JJKN and I think in KSBKBT… She’s like a legend on Indian TV haha so was nice to see her in the film, though to be honest I don’t like her LOL

Salman Khan was in full form after quite some time! He gave a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful performance…and simply rocked! He looked hot and performed brilliantly…Never once going over the top…I think he worked harder because he was working with the king of comedy [Govinda] so he knew he had to up his performance – and he did, with such ease. Great performance. And a special mention to his dancing – after a looong time I saw the actor who was once one of my fave dancers – dancing amazing again!

Govinda is BACK! And HOW!!! After the scene-stealing performance in Salaam-e-Ishq, he delivers yet another brilliant and flawless performance. His performance is absolutely impeccable…I fell in love with Govinda all over again. He looked adorable and he’s just so funny…amazingly natural actor! And an outstanding dancer!

Katrina Kaif didn’t have much to do but she looked gorgeous and acted whatever she had to with such ease… I just wish people would let her use her own beautiful voice, I hate filmmakers who dub her voice they all deserve a huge slap and push to the ground to bang their heads…why do they do this? She has a great voice and they should take advantage of it! And she’s such a natural actress… I loved her a lot and I loved her pairing with Govinda… I think she’s become the best DD heroine after Karisma.

Lara Dutta was awesome. I actually really liked her role and do not agree with those who feel she had nothing to do – ‘coz she did… My favourite part of her performance was when she’s watching that movie with Ali and then she starts to cry… the way she cried was so natural – one of the most natural crying scenes from such a new actress ever! And not to mention she looked amazingly gorgeous – but that was expected. And she made one helluva gorgeous pairing with Salman, I hope we see them together again!

Salman-Govinda were just amazing together. And it was great seeing Katrina-Lara in the film, both were wonderful, as they are two of my most fave newcomers these days!

Special mention to the outfits loved them all…All the designers did a great job!

Overall Partner isn’t a classic [but then who in the world would expect it to be?] and it isn’t a great/mindblowing film…yet it still works – big time…why? There are two reasons… [1] David Dhawan and [2] Salman-Govinda. David Dhawan brings together the two actors he has worked best with in his career and Salman-Govinda as a team are too brilliant for words to express – the chemistry they share make the film worth watching and the comic moments David executes are fantastic.

I would not say it’s the best film of the year… But I do understand that there’s going to be an audience that will go crazy for this because this is the kind of film they wait for all year round, therefore chances of it achieving a high BO status are very large. On my list it will possibly feature as the 5th or 6th best film of the year so far.

2007 So Far 1. Namastey London 2. Ta Ra Rum 3. Apne 4. Naqaab 5. Salaam-e-Ishq / Partner