Partner (2007 film)
Partner is an Indian 2007 Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by David Dhawan. Inspired by the 2005 American film Hitch,[2] it follows the story of a love guru, Prem Kulkarni, played by Salman Khan, who gives his client, Bhaskar Chaudhary, played by Govinda, the ideas of wooing his gorgeous boss, Priya Jaisingh, played by Katrina Kaif. In the process, he ends up falling in love with a widowed mother, Naina Sahani, played by Lara Dutta, leading him to hide his identity. Ali Haji, Deepshikha, and Dalip Tahil are featured in supporting roles as Naina's son, Prem's sister and Priya's father respectively. The film was released on 20 July 2007, receiving positive reviews and praise for its comedic scenes and Govinda's comical performance.
Partner | |
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![]() Poster for Partner | |
Directed by | David Dhawan |
Produced by | Sohail Khan Parag Sanghvi |
Written by | Sanjay Chhel David Dhawan Yunus Sajawal |
Based on | Hitch |
Starring | Govinda Ahuja Salman Khan Lara Dutta Katrina Kaif |
Narrated by | Salman Khan |
Music by | Sajid-Wajid |
Cinematography | Johny Lal |
Edited by | Nitin Rokade |
Distributed by | Sohail Khan Productions Eros International |
Release date |
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Running time | 143 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Box office | est. ₹1.03 billion[1] |
Partner emerged as a major box-office commercial success, grossing a total of ₹1.03 billion (US$14 million) at the worldwide box office. According to box office, it was the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year behind Om Shanti Om, Welcome and Chak De! India.
Dhawan has expressed interest in creating a sequel to the film, but as of 2012 no script had been finalized and news outlets have reported that the film has been shelved entirely.[3][4]
Plot
Prem (Salman Khan) is a Love Guru who solves the love issues of his clients. He meets Bhaskar Diwakar Chaudhary (Govinda) who comes to Prem for help in his love life. Bhaskar loves his boss, Priya Jaisingh (Katrina Kaif), but is unable to express his love to her as she is the daughter of a wealthy businessman, Raj Jaisingh. Prem initially refuses to help Bhaskar and goes to Phuket, Thailand. Bhaskar follows him there and convinces him to help.
After returning from Thailand, Prem meets Naina (Lara Dutta), a photojournalist who was running from some gangsters led by Chhota Don (Rajpal Yadav), who mimics Shahrukh Khan in Don. Prem saves her and falls in love with her. Meanwhile, he starts teaching Bhaskar how to impress Priya. But Bhaskar uses his own simplicity and nonsense acts to impress Priya, who finally falls in love with Bhaskar but does not disclose it to him. Meanwhile, Prem learns that Naina has a son named Rohan (Ali Haji) from her previous marriage, and to impress Naina, he takes care of him.
Bhaskar reveals to Prem that Priya will marry someone according to Raj's will. They both come to Priya's wedding ceremony with Rohan, but find Naina there and Rohan convinces her to marry Prem while Raj is convinced by Bhaskar. Priya now prepares to marry Bhaskar.
Meanwhile, a spoilt brat named Neil Bakshi (Rajat Bedi) comes to Prem for help and he asks Prem to convince a girl to have a one-night stand. Prem gets angry with Neil and tells him that he does not help people with such bad intentions. Neil somehow manages to get his one-night stand and then ditches her, telling her the love guru gave him the advice to do so. Unfortunately, the girl turns out to be Naina's friend Nikki (Aarti Chabria). Naina then sets out to expose the Love Guru and finds out that it is Prem. Naina hates Prem for what she thought he did to her friend and publishes a front-page article claiming that Prem can set anyone up with the girl they want using the Priya-Bhaskar relationship as an example. Bhaskar is fired from his job as a result.
Prem thinks that Bhaskar may commit suicide without Priya and goes to her to tell her what really happened. Priya realizes that all the things she liked about Bhaskar are what Prem wanted Bhaskar to hide from her and Priya is ready to take Bhaskar back. Prem makes up with Naina by making her hear the truth about him not helping Neil, and they get back together. On both couples' honeymoon night, Bhaskar again asks Prem for help but this time they both get mingled with their respective wives.
Cast
- Govinda as Bhaskar Diwakar Chaudhary, a nerdy man who has a crush on his boss Priya Jaisingh.
- Salman Khan as Prem Kulkarni a.k.a. Love Guru, a love master who advises those needing help to start a relationship.
- Lara Dutta as Naina Sahani, a photojournalist who Prem falls in love with.
- Katrina Kaif as Priya Jaisingh, Bhaskar’s boss and love interest.
- Master Ali Haji as Rohan Sahani, Naina's son
- Dalip Tahil as Raj Jaisingh, a wealthy businessman who is also Priya’s father and also approves of Bhaskar’s relationship with her.
- Aarti Chabria as Nikki, Naina's colleague
- Rajat Bedi as Neil Bakshi, a spoiled brat who tries to get Prem to help him set up a one-night-stand with Nikki but is rejected by him.
- Suresh Menon as Kiran
- Deepshikha as Pammi Kulkarni, Prem's sister
- Tiku Talsania as Naina's boss
- Ali Asgar as Naina's colleague
- Atul Parchure
- Vindu Dara Singh as Chadha
- Razak Khan as John uncle
- Puneet Issar as Rana
- Rajpal Yadav as Chhota Don, a midget gangster and crime boss mimicking Shahrukh Khan's character from Don
- Shashi Kiran as Newspaper stall owner
- Dheirya Sorecha as Pammi's son
- Jason Shah as Priya's fiancé
Soundtrack
Partner | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 2007 | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Label | T-Series | |||
Producer | Sajid-Wajid | |||
Sajid-Wajid chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Planet Bollywood | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Bollywood Hungama | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The music was composed by Sajid-Wajid. The soundtrack entered the top five on 23 July 2007.[7] According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 18,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's third highest-selling.[8]
Track list
# | Song | Singer(s) | Picturised on | Length |
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1 | "Do You Wanna Partner" | Udit Narayan, Shaan, Wajid, Suzanne D'Mello, Clinton Cerejo | Salman Khan & Govinda | 04:30 |
2 | "You’re My Love" | Shaan, Shweta Pandit, Suzanne D'Mello, Earl D’Souza | Govinda, Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan & Lara Dutta | 04:35 |
3 | "Dupatta Tera Nau Rang Da" | Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Kunal Ganjawala, Suzanne D'Mello | Govinda, Katrina Kaif, Lara Dutta & Salman Khan | 05:00 |
4 | "Soni De Nakhre" | Labh Janjua, Sneha Pant, Wajid | Govinda, Katrina Kaif & Salman Khan | 04:17 |
5 | "Maria Maria" | Wajid, Sonu Nigam, Shakib, Sunidhi Chauhan, Naresh Iyer | Salman Khan & Lara Dutta | 04:36 |
6 | "You’re My Love" (Remix) | Shaan, Shweta Pandit, Suzanne D'Mello, Earl D’Souza | Excluded in film | 04:27 |
7 | "Do You Wanna Partner" (Remix) | Udit Narayan, Shaan, Wajid, Suzanne D'Mello, Clinton Cerejo | Excluded in film | 03:58 |
Reception
Legal issues
Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Sony Pictures, owners of the film Hitch, contemplated a $30-million suit against both the Indian producers for copyright infringements.[11] It would have been the first time an international film company took legal action against an Indian entertainment company for plagiarism. Partner was eventually released, with Sony acquiring the world exclusive satellite broadcasting rights.[12]
References
- "Top All Time Worldwide Grossers Updated 11/5/2012". boxofficeindia. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- "'Partner' inspired from 'Hitch'". 8 July 2007. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012.
- "Script not ready, but Partner 2 is still alive!". Hindustan Times. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- "Salman Khan, Govinda's 'Partner 2' shelved". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- "Partner Music Review". Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- "Partner Music Review". Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- "Partner enters Top 5". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010.
- "Box Office 2007". Boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- Top Lifetime Grossers OVERSEAS (US $) Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Box Office India. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- "Partner may face $30 mn Hitch". The Times of India. 8 August 2007.
- "Who Will Bell the Copycat". Forbes. 22 July 2009.