Life Partner

The basic premise is regardless of love-marriage or arranged marriage, divorce is the final destination for sure as much as death or taxes. Govinda keeps popping-in and out at regular intervals on the screen to prove his point, add fuel to the fire in the lives of couples and keep his chimney burning.

The casting is perfect. Govinda reprises Partner Salman Khan. Fardeen & Genelia are well suited for the modern couple while Tushar & Prachi for the traditional. Anupam Kher was wasted. Vikram Gokhale had an extended special appearance. Darshan Jariwala gets in the skin of the character as orthodox patriarch.

The songs are just about okay, Pritam should stop using too using too much of English language in a Hindi film.

In his second outing Rumi Jaffery attempts a David Dhawan/ Priyadarshan. Having established himself with the credentials of a writer, Rumi seems to have a bit lost when it comes to wielding the megaphone. The basic flaw apparently is the slow screenplay. In addition, a taut job was warranted by the editor. The tongue-in-cheek humour was pretty much coming. It also takes a perfect dash of slapstick to strike a balance for a good comedy, which was missing too (should have taken cue from David Dhawan/ Priyadarshan). Having said that there is better quality of tongue-in-cheek humour on telly, so how do you make a movie stand a notch above? Abbas-Mustan as producers should have kept a tab on the proceeding.

This movie brings back some memories of an era that has gone by and one which consists a message that has been added in with some humour.. Three friends, one involved in selling spices, the second who works for an International company and a third, a divorce lawyer – who will stop at nothing to get some business, don't have any marital problems until they tie the knot and its when they approach marital life from different angles and how they handle the situation that each one of them is in that makes it interesting.

Starring Govinda, Genelia D'Souza, Tusshar Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Prachi Desai, Anupam Kher and Amrita Rao, this is directed by Rumi Jaffrey, while Javed Akhtar pens the lyrics and the music score is by Preetam.

It's nice to see Govinda back in a role that he is good at – comedy and serious and in a role that demands both comedy and serious as do Fardeen Khan and Tusshar Kapoor and Genelia D'Souza.

Gone is the era which showed marital problems and couples splitting up but Rumi Jaffrey brings back that era and has also added some humour, though it is restricted, to this and this is what makes it worthwhile to watch. A couple of songs, which have been penned in by Javed Akhtar, are worth listening.

This is one movie that can be said that is one that can be watched with family members at any time.

Rumi Jaffery made his directorial debut with the disappointing'God Tussi Great Ho', thankfully his 2nd outing 'Life Partner' doesn't remind of his previous work.

First things first: Don't watch 'Life Partner' with huge expectations, chances r you might turn it off. If you watch it with limited expectations, your bound to have a good time... to an extend!

The first hour doesn't work, that's mainly because the story hardly moves. The film takes off when Prachi Desai enters the scene. The second hour is interesting and has a silly, but gripping climax.

The music is good, with every song keeping the mood alive. While the Rumi Jaffery's writing is faulty at times. As a director, he does what his script demands.

Performance-wise: Prachi Desai, undoubtedly is the life of 'Life Partner'. She looks damn cute and delivers a natural performance from scene A to Z. The second in command is Fardeen, who excels throughout. Tusshar is decent, while Genelia D'Souza hams. Anupam Kher, Vikram Gokhale and Darshan Jariwala are perfect in their parts. Veteran Comedian Jagdeep does a hilarious cameo as Fardeen's ill client. Amrita Rao is wasted. And last but not the least Govinda. He's first-rate in an extended special appearance.

On the whole 'Life Partner' may not be the best film to watch on a Sunday, but not the worst either! Average.

I just have one question? How do they make money with this kind of garbage - This is Bollywood at its worst.The acting the OTT scenes - the rich spoilt main characters as per usual lately. I mean are all well off Indians behave this way? - I mean take some responsibility of a serious subject - the ending I mean, is laughable - what on earth are these writers/producers on? I carried on watching it (on DVD) to see how bad it could get. Gobinda is as annoying as ever and Fardeen (anyone know why he shakes his head as though hes got some nerve damage?) Fardeen and Gobinda are two prime Idiots who are trying to resurrect their career by playing their fantasies as playboys. Dulha Mil Gaya, this and also Money Hai to Honey Hai - very similar poor directing/story/acting. Every film seems to have a night club scene.

Back to the film - it does not make sense at all - with characters changing their life long views at a drop of a hat and suddenly everything is great.

Avoid

If we go through our golden era of black and white films before the 70s, then there are several movies featuring many big stars of that time, which are just nice and cool for a one time watch. They are neither a masterpiece nor could be considered as trash. "Life Partner" also falls in the same category, where you simply feel OK after watching it and don't mind your valuable time and money spent. In fact a particular section of the viewers may love it for the enjoyable act performed by their favorite Virar Boy, Govinda.

The screenplay revolves around two young couples and their common lawyer friend who is known for his specialization in divorce cases. When both the married couples face rough times after their marriage, their lawyer friend offers them help and gets them rescued. The plot had a great scope of humor and entertainment for its viewers. But since it is used in a very restricted manner, the final outcome couldn't result in a complete laugh riot. The movie has its own moments of comedy and preaching too. The director tries to explain the meaning of marriage and its tradition with a pinch of comedy, romance and family drama. So, all the three basic elements of an Indian movie are combined together by Rumi Jaffery in his second attempt, produced by the famous director duo Abbas Mastaan.

The movie can be clearly divided into two parts where the first half stresses on the comedy and romance element of the story and the second focuses on the post marriage conflicts and family drama. However, the director takes too much time to establish his three characters and their love stories in the first half which could have been easily shortened to a great extent. So, not much happens in the first part as far as the story goes, but you enjoy the scenes featuring Govinda as the Love Guru for both Tushaar & Fardeen. The second half is conceived keeping in mind the family audiences and talks about the common marital fights and disputes. Here, for a good amount of time, Govinda vanishes from the screen which in turn takes away the fun factor from the movie. But still you don't mind watching a few well directed scenes close to the Ekta Kapoor serials seen at home (especially the ones with Prachi Desai).

Performance wise Govinda excels over all the others, in the few scenes where he is back in his good old terrific form. I wish he had got more comic scenes to entertain his fans. Fardeen & Tushaar, are just fine playing their parts and its time they have to try something new in their respective careers. But it's the ladies which score over their male counterpart this time. Genelia D'souza sizzles on the screen with her great dressing sense. Along with looking perfect she delivers a fine act as the annoying wife. Parchi Desai on the other hand proves her talent once again after "Rock-on". She impresses as the true Indian wife trying her best to adjust with her in-laws. In the supporting cast, Vikram Gokhale is elegant as the rich father but both Amrita Rao and Anupam Kher are completely wasted. The veteran comedian Jagdeep entertains superbly in a surprise cameo.

Pritam, comes up with a routine kind of score with no particular track making a mark or impression. Look wise the film has a rich feel with foreign locales captured beautifully on the screen. So, technically everything is just fine but nothing great with an exceptional touch or class.

In short, it is an OK, cool movie directed in a simple way with some good comic scenes and fresh faces. But if only Govinda was given a better and meatier role as the divorce lawyer, the movie could have been a far better experience for the common viewer coming for a good time.