Partner

Back with old fave David Dhawan, he proves, all over again, that despite the flabby middle and the jowly chin, no one can quite take over his mantle just yet: as the under-confident geek who sets out to get his gal, he shows some of the moves that made Govinda, Govinda.

Dhawan steals from Will Smith8217;s Hitch not only the premise, but whole scenes. Salman is the six-packed brawny-chested Love Guru, who gives tips to poor saps, for a fee, to win their ladies. Like Smith, he hides behind the door and props up Govinda as pretty heiress Katrina makes eyes at him. And when he takes time off, he romances the reluctant Lara, single mom with an insufferably cute little tyke.

But because it8217;s a David Dhawan movie, it can8217;t ever be just quite this. Loose ends for laughs is a Dhawan speciality, so we get Rajpal Yadav doing a 8216;Chota Don8217; act, in a mix of accents of the Bachchan and the Khan don8217;t ask. There8217;s a sister Salman8217;s with her two kids who is made to live in Phuket, so Salman and Govinda, paired for the first time, can be shown in the surf, minus shirts, with bikinied babes don8217;t ask. There8217;s a drag queen with her entourage, allegedly a friend of rich miss Katrina, who is in the plot so DD8217;s writers can pen limp-wristed lines. we told you, don8217;t ask, okay?.

The film is dull in the first half, and patchy in the rest, looking as if it has been hacked with shears.The worst part about Partner is that the director is far from salvaging his reputation as being the fastest, zippiest man on the block.

But we forgive him because he has brought us our Govinda back, in what he does best: inane comedy underpinned with complete conviction, and an ability to dance everyone8217;s socks off, including the comely trio of Salman, good foil to Govinda, and Katrina and Lara. Just don8217;t give us a shirtless Govinda again, though.