Partner is a big let down

To be very frank, I have never been a great fan of the David Dhawan brand of humor. There have been times when the rolly polly director has come up with real good laugh riots (Coolie No: 1, Hero No: 1, Judwaa, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya) and there have been times when his outings have been really irritating (Chal Mere Bhai, Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, Mr and Mrs Khiladi, Banarasi Babu). Unfortunately, Partner falls into the second category. Almost a scene by scene remake of the big Hollywood hit- Hitch, Partner is the story of Bhaskar (an earnest Govinda) and his "Love- Guru" Prem (a disinterested Salman Khan). Bhaskar falls for Priya (Katrina Kaif, cute!), a rich heiress for whom he works as a Financial Advisor and seeks Prem's help in wooing and winning over her. How after a lot of misadventures, Priya finally falls for Bhaskar is what the rest of the film is all about. In the middle of all this is a crime reporter cum single mother (Lara Dutta, hot) who becomes the object of Prem's affection. The biggest problem with Partner is its length. What could have been easily narrated in an hour and a half, has been needlessly stretched into more than 2 hours. Rajpal Yadav's comedy track is unnecessary and irritating. The songs are boring and their placement is not right either. The only song that stands out in Sajid- Wajid's composition is "My Love" featuring Sallu and Lara. The comic sequences are not worth mentioning. Will Smith's original version was much funnier. Sanjay Chhel's dialogues belong to what you call the "Below the belt" comedy, especially the gay jokes that involve the fashion designer and Govinda. Art direction is loud, photography is mediocre and editing is below average. It is to Govinda's benefit that in spite of all odds, Partner emerged a winner at the BO. The actor exhibits a rare sincerity and his earnestness in hogging the limelight is clearly evident in his performance. How we wish David Dhawan shared at least a tenth of that in putting the film together! To sum up, Partner is a wasted effort!