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.
