Movie Review: Partner

A successful 'love guru' struggles to get a hapless client hooked up with a national beauty in this lavish Bollywood comedy starring Salman Khan and Govinda.

Every now and then the complaint that Indian movie plots are 'inspired' by Hollywood stories (check out the similarities between, say, Kasoor and Jagged Edge or Main Azad Hoon and Meet John Doe) gets wheeled out and rapidly wheeled back in again.

For a start that would imply Hollywood is a source of originality; secondly, the name 'Bollywood' scarcely suggests a radical departure from the American way. Besides, how many US non-musicals ever stop the action for full-on dance extravaganzas?

Thus there's no real 'hitch' in surmising that the concept for Partner came from Will Smith's comedy smash Hitch. Salman Khan plays the smooth 'love guru' Prem, while co-star Govinda takes the role of the buffoonish Bhaskar, head-over-heels with out-of-his-league socialite beauty Priya (Kaif).

Not only does Prem have to strong-arm Bhaskar into romance, he finds his own allure failing to snare independent single mother, Lois Lane-style photojournalist Naina (Dutta).

Hitch was amiable if hardly groundbreaking entertainment and in this respect, Partner follows its lead. Comedy hitmaker David Dharwan decks his movie - and his stars - out in designer gladrags, revs up the catchy song-and-dance numbers and sits back with knowing satisfaction. The muscle-bound Khan, better known as Bollywood's bad boy, is no Will Smith in the charm department, coming over more as early period Sylvester Stallone, but his three co-stars all fulfill their designated roles, notably Govinda, who's given the lion's share of the one-liners.

Anyone hoping for an in-depth study of the morality of matchmaking will be disappointed; this is broad, brash escapism with the substance of candyfloss.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, particularly when you get, for example, a scene of a voice-activated rocket targeting a man on a jet-ski followed by a dance number straight out of 'Club Tropicana'-era Wham!

The dance numbers in general are colourful and high-energy, though a neat flamenco-esque pastiche works far better than a lame hip-hop rip-off.

So long as it hews close to the formula, Partner is at the very least inoffensive.

But a couple of brief moments mocking Thai people (on a Phuket jaunt) and some cliched homosexual gags don't sit well with the affable atmosphere.

And the unquestioning attitude that everything and everyone glamorous and wealthy is great makes you think the 1980s never ended. One shouldn't expect Satyajit Ray social commentary from every Indian film but if there's one Hollywood trend Bollywood doesn't need to ape, it's designer vacuousness.

Verdict: Exuberant, empty-headed entertainment cribbed from Hollywood but put through the Bollywood mixer to produce a crowd-pleasing blend for fans.

Director: David Dhawan
Release date: 20 July 2007