Fenil and Bollywood

A month and a half back, I had mentioned in my Kambakkht Ishq review as to how it’s disgusting to see so many shoddy entertainers being released this year. But then a week late came the entertaining Sankat City which brought a respite. And Life Partner, released a week back, also manages to entertain and bring a smile, thankfully. This sweet-n-simple film also teaches some lessons on love and marriage. More about it later!

The story of the movie: Karan (Fardeen Khan), Bhavesh (Tusshar Kapoor) and Jeet (Govinda) are three friends based in Cape Town. Karan works in bank and is in love with the ‘untalented’ Sanjana (Genelia D’Souza), a spoilt daughter of a rich man (Anupam Kher). Bhavesh, on the other hand, doesn’t feel the need to date and believes in arranged marriage. He is an obedient son of a disciplinarian (Darshan Jariwala) and has reserved all his romance for his wife. He finally meets the women of his dreams, Prachi (Prachi Desai), daughter of a multi-millionaire (Vikram Gokhale). And Jeet is a divorce lawyer who can convince anyone to get divorced within minutes! In short, he was world’s best divorce lawyer! He doesn’t believe in the institution of marriage at all. He feels that ‘divorce ki sabse badi wajah hai shaadi’! He persuades Karan and Bhavesh and advices them not to fall into the trap of marriage. But they don’t pay any heed and get married to their women. The later part of the film is all about the problems the newly-wedded couples have to face.

Life Partner is executed in a simple manner. The director doesn’t waste time at all in the beginning and comes right to the point. By exploring the lives of Karan and Bhavesh and their marriage, the director throws light on the plusses and minuses of both love marriage and arranged marriage. The film also gives a wonderful insight on the joint family system, headed and controlled by a patriarch. But the film doesn’t turn melodramatic or preachy at a single place. There are also lots of funny moments throughout the film, which help maintain the light mood of the film. Also, the humour content is not slapstick-it manages to raise quite a many laughs!

The first half is completely funny and has many hilarious sequences. The sequence where Tusshar with his family and Fardeen and Genelia visit Prachi’s palatial residence in India was excellent. The intermission point provides a shock! The second half is all about the problems the couples face. Although Fardeen-Genelia’s look a bit illogical, the scenes of Tusshar and Prachi seemed quite real. As for the climax, well, it was nonsensical but at the same time, it helped to give a film a justified finale. Most importantly, the viewer comes out of the theatre with a smile!

Every actor performs wonderfully. The best part is, Fardeen-Genelia and Tusshar-Prachi look excellent together and share a great chemistry. Fardeen Khan was terrific. He has already proved that he can carry off well in comic capers and his performance in Life Partner confirms it. He wasn’t seen in a single film last year. Before Life Partner this year, he starred in Jai Veeru which failed miserably. He still has three more releases this year-Acid Factory, Dulha Mil Gaya and All The Best and it seems Fardeen’s popularity will once again soar with Life Partner and the forthcoming films!

Genelia D’Souza rocks! Her role required her to be loud and she does it convincingly. She looks stunning throughout the film too, esp in the songs. Tusshar Kapoor got into the skin of the character and performed perfectly. Watch out his amazing expressions and acting in the scene where Prachi agrees to marry him! Prachi Desai, who impressed one and all in ‘Rock On!!’, does a fine job. She gets maximum scope in the 2nd half and does quite well in some of the important scenes.

Darshan Jariwala was excellent as the staunch patriarch. Same goes for Vikram Gokhale. Anupam Kher was okay. Jagdeep was hilarious, even though he was there for just a scene. Himani Shivpuri also provides laugh in just a single scene. Shoma Anand was a perfect mismatch for her role. The film also has Amrita Rao in a special appearance.

And finally, Govinda is the scene-stealer of the film, although his was a supporting role. The screen brightens as soon as he comes in! He looked cool, uttering his theory on marriage. A great job indeed!

Pritam’s music was good, but not as great as his accomplished works. Songs come at regular intervals but doesn’t hamper the pace of the film. ‘Koyal Kuke’, ‘Aage Aage’, ‘Teri Meri Yeh Zindagi’ and ‘Goonje Angna Mein’ are nicely composed numbers. The Amrita Rao track doesn’t quite work.

Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues were perfect for such a film. The funny one-liners were too good. Yunus Sejawal’s screenplay was just perfect.

Finally, Rumy Jaffrey, the director and writer, manages to come up with a fine film. He doesn’t go overboard in a single scene and none of the sequences in the film (except the climax) looked nonsensical. However, it’s unfortunate to see such a nice film not getting enough audience. The film released simultaneously with Kaminey and got overshadowed by it. Coincidentally, Rumy Jaffrey’s debut film last year, God Tussi Great Ho, was also released in the Independence Day weekend. And it also got overshadowed and flopped as it was released with Bachna Ae Haseeno. Let’s hope Life Partner doesn’t fail commercially too.

Some of the best scenes of the film:
1.   Karan racing with an aeroplane
2.   The song ‘Koyal Kuke’, ‘Aage Aagee’, ‘Teri Meri Yeh’ and ‘Goonje Angna Mein’
3.   Karan making fun of Sanjana behind her back
4.   Bhavesh at Prachi’s residence in India
5.   The intermission point
6.   Bhavesh persuading Prachi to apologize to his father
7.   The washing machine sequence
8.   Bhavesh and Prachi’s honeymoon
9.   Prachi’s father at Bhavesh’s house

On the whole, Life Partner is a sweet and simple film with lots of funny and lovely moments. It also gives some lessons on love and marriage without getting preachy. If you have already seen Kaminey or if you aren’t interested in it, then go and watch Life Partner. And go with your entire family!

My rating-*** ½

This review first appeared on MouthShut.com: http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Life_Partner-173420-1.html