Partner sees Govinda and Salman Khan teaming up for the first time despite the rumours that Govinda was not happy when Salman Khan took over his No.1 tagline with Biwi No.1. But that is not the only reason Partner is special. It is also the remake of Hollywood blockbuster Hitch, which starred Academy Award nominee Will Smith. Hence audiences are curious as to what will be the verdict of Partner, which is directed by the king of comedy David Dhawan. However, that is a question to be answered at a later date since the topic on point today is the music of Partner which has been done by Sajid-Wajid of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi fame with lyrics penned by Shabbir Ahmen, Sanjay Chhel and Jalees Sherwani.
Do U Wanna Partner is sung by Shaan, Udit Narayan, Wajid, Suzi Q and Clington, with an underlying beat that is dangerously close to resembling Will Smith’s Switch. Apart from that little tid-bit, this track is pretty full-on. The musical roller coaster ride only stops for some funky qawali tunes here and there and is jam packed with cleverly mixed desi and videsi sounds. It is definitely a typical David Dhawan number that would suit the likes of Salman and Govinda.
Shaan and Shewta Pandit lead You’re My Love ,supported by Suzi Q and Earl D’Souza. The track begins like a Sean Paul number and then turns out to have very disengaging introductory lyrics. Dekha maine dekha jabse tumko dekha…dil de diya re sounds very run-of-the-mill. However, in the later portions, the song delivers better lyrics and becomes audible. Musically, it is relatively fast paced and flows well from the first track. It is an average track that will probably just be a gap-filler in the film’s narrative.
After Dupatta Mera Mal Mal Ka comes Dupatta Tera Nau Rang Da. It can easily be said that this track is the best track in this album. This song is sung by the dynamic duo of Sonu Nigam and Kunal Ganjawala who gave an incredible performance in Kaal’s Tauba Tauba. It starts off like a race track number, but then smoothly transforms to a fast paced desi number with delightful Punjabi lyrics. The music is a clever mix of Indian instruments such as the sitar accompanied by western instruments. Sonu and Kunal are jam packed with energy and deliver a danceable number you can dance to. Expect this track to be exceptionally well choreographed in sparkling sherwani-ghagra-style.
Soni Ke Nakhare is basically a Punjabi track with a Michael Jackson feel to it. Sung by Wajid, Labh Janjua and Sneha Pant, it resembles Hindi pop numbers. It is a fairly good track which steps away from rest of the songs in this album. Its only shortcoming is that the lyrics become redundant after a while. Nevertheless, it has a foot-tapping rhythm to it and blends well with the energetic nature of the album.
Maria Maria definitely has to be the low-point of Partner. It would be wise to cut it out of the film’s narrative. It has Spanish-Latin musical arrangements and is sung by Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sajid and Naresh. The typical run-of-the-mill lyrics are sung in such a way that it does not match the music and makes the words stick out like a sore thumb against the music. The very talented Sonu and Sunidhi must have been struggling to give a reasonable performance in this song and they barely managed it. It will undoubtedly be the most skipped track in this album.
The remixes of You’re My Love and Do U Wanna Partner bring the album to a close. They are basically faster versions of the original tracks and offer nothing new.
To conclude, Partner is not a bad fair. It is certainly different from the weekly dose of Pritam and Himesh albums. The songs are bound to compliment the film nicely since this soundtrack has fun and games written all over it. It may not be deep, soulful, or meaningful, but it is a light-hearted album with foot-tapping and head-nodding numbers that would be great to have on full volume when doing something like house-cleaning.
