Govinda brings the house down in ‘Life Partner’

Film: “Life Partner”

Cast: Govinda, Tusshar Kapoor, Prachi Desai, Fardeen Khan, Genelia D’Souza

Director: Rumi Jaffrey;

Some of the writing invested into this not-bad comic look at the roller-coaster called marriage is surprisingly sharp.

For example, there’s this Gujarati family lorded over by a tycoon (Darshan Jariwala) in Cape Town who remains rigidly rooted to conventions that ended 50 years ago. Back home in Gujarat a modern business family run by a liberal patriarch (Vikram Gokhale) ends up giving his daughter (Prachi Desai) to the NRI tycoon’s mousy son (Tusshar Kapoor). The conflict that ensues is likeable and in a fully filmy way, believable.

Elsewhere this spoilt rich girl (Genelia) with a father (Anupam Kher), who never bothered to discipline her, gets herself a domesticated husband who does all the work while she attends to various disastrous hobbies.

Genelia as the destructive daughter gets to sink her teeth into a meaty part.

Witty and sometimes genuinely funny, “Life Partner” is a light bubbly take on the pitfalls of various kinds of marriages, arranged or otherwise, and how to avoid perils of getting into a marital alliance where the partners know nothing about the future.

While Genelia is happily over-the-top, Prachi in the rounded sensible part of a Gujarati girl standing up to her autocratic father-in-law does well for herself. Of the two young leading men, Tusshar as the timid believer in virginity as a gift to his bride suits his part and does at least one sequence when he bursts into tears after Prachi accepts his proposal with tonal correctness.

But it is Govinda as the frazzled divorce lawyer who brings the house down. Govinda gives the kind of tongue-in-cheek performance that once made him the number one choice for roles that required comic interpretations of social problems. He works well in combination with every actor in this film, wooden or hammy.

Rumi Jaffrey’s direction is most of the time even in tone. But the last half hour with its screeching sermonizing gets on to slippery ground. Nonetheless “Life Partner” is a decent inoffensive marital comedy mostly free of double-meanings.

Movie Review: Life Partner

Life Partner: Timepass flick
Starring: Govinda, Fardeen Khan, Tusshar Kapoor, Genelia D’Souza, Prachi Desai, Darshan Jariwala and Amrita Rao in Sp.App
Director: Rumi Jaffrery
“Marriage’ is the union of two souls in a bond, which lasts a lifetime. Though practically, there is far too much that goes into actually managing a “marriage’. This is what “Life Partner’ is all about in a nutshell.
It is a story about three friends, Karan (Fardeen Khan) for whom “Love marriage is the perfect bet’, Bhavesh (Tusshar Kapoor) who does not believe in the concept of “Dating’ and prefers an arranged set up and then there’s Jeet (Govinda) a divorce lawyer who believes in “No marriage’. Karan’s and Bhavesh’s lives turn upside down when they marry their respective partners, Sanjana (Genelia D’souza) and Prachi (Prachi Desai) and how they re-affirm their faith in the institution of marriage is what the rest of the film all about.
Turning producers, director duo Abbas Mustan have not left any stone unturned from giving the film a grandiose look. Wish they were equally charged about promoting the film as there is no buzz around the movie. The locales of Cape Town are eye catching and Sameer Arya’s cinematography makes it look so much better.
Writer-Director Rumi Jaffery has already proved his prowess in writing in the past and after seeing this film one can easily say that his craft in direction is equally good as far as films of this genre are concerned. But the screenplay (Yunus Sajawal) suffers on many counts as the film starts off well, dips intermittently, gathers momentum in the second half and drops again during pre-climax and climax. Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues are funny at most places and tickle your funny bone at most occasions. Less said about Pritam’s music the better. We also wonder how could a master lyricist like Javed Akhtar could come up with such mediocre work. Though each of the song numbers have been shot well, there is not a single song you want to carry home or even hum around. Watching Kuke Kuke number is fun because of Govinda and Genelia’s histrionics. Editing by Sanjay Sankla needs some serious trimming especially in the second half.
Fardeen Khan has by now got comfortable with the camera and it shows. Tusshar suits in his part well and does full justice to it. Genelia looks cute but her dialogue delivery needs to be improved. Prachi Desai is very likeable and gives an earnest performance. Govinda once again plays to the gallery and succeeds in evoking laughter. Anupam Kher is like always, ever dependable. Vikram Gokhale and Darshan Jariwala are sincere in their respective roles. Amrita Rao in a guest appearance as a bar girl fails to create any impact again with her miniscule clothing.
All said and done, Life Partner can be a good fun filling experience this weekend (if you are not living in Mumbai) and can be watched along with your partner. For those who are still single, it teaches you the repercussions of having one in your life. So, be prepared!