Do You Wanna Partner REVIEW: Tamannaah Bhatia, Diana Penty’s Well Brewed Startup Drama Has More Froth Than Flavour

Film:
Do You Wanna Partner

Director: Archit Kumar, Collin D’Cunha

Creators: Mithun Gongopadhyay, Nishant Nayak

Writers: Nandini Gupta, Aarsh Vora, Mithun Gongopadhyay

Cast: Tamannaah Bhatia, Diana Penty, Jaaved Jaaferi, Nakuul Mehta, Shweta Tiwari, Neeraj Kabi, Firoz Ali, Sufi Motiwala, Rannvijay Singha, Ayesha Raza Mishra

Runtime: 8 Episodes (30-40 minutes each)

Platform: Prime Video

Do You Wanna Partner Review

Dharmatic Entertainment’s Do You Wanna Partner – directed by Archit Kumar and Collin D’Cunha, has released and is something that will make you chuckle away with its situational comedy and also touch your heart with its emotional tracks. The 8-episode-long series follows two childhood best friends, Shikha Roy Chowdhury and Anahita Makujina, as they venture into the male-dominated alcohol industry to launch their own craft beer brand, Jugaaro.

Childhood besties Shikha (Tamannaah Bhatia) and Anahita (Diana Penty) quit their corporate jobs (one quits, one is laid off) after being disappointed time and again and decide to launch their own craft beer brand. The besties always dreamed of one day manufacturing and marketing their own craft beer ever since Shikha’s father Sanjoy’s (Indraneil Sengupta) died and left behind his unfinished craft beer legacy. Back in Calcutta in 1998, Sanjoy had envisioned a craft beer brand, but his partner Vikram Walia (Neeraj Kabi) betrayed him, stole the trademark, and built himself a liquor empire. Heartbroken by the betrayal and his dream being snatched away, Sanjoy died young. Determined to set things right, Shikha and Anahita launch their own brand – Jugaaro, years later, competing with Walia’s well-established products.

As expected, the women face resistance in a male-dominated industry and its clearly visible from the very first call Anahita makes with a hoarse while recovering from a hangover. Sensing the need of a male to get their work done, she creates an alter ego — David Jones. The duo then swiftly manage to convince the industry that David is the brand’s mysterious owner and rope in Dylan Thomas (Jaaved Jaaferi) – a rookie stage actor with short-term memory loss from Kolkata, to cosplay as David. They also bring onboard single dad Bobby (Nakuul Mehta) after zeroing in on the their brand’s name with help from Anahita’s cousin Firdaus Makujina (Sufi Motiwala),.

After a brewery mishap buts their dreams and entire operations on the line, Shikha and Anahita along, with the alter ego David Jones, take a Rs 2 crore loan from feared NCR gangster Laila (Shweta Tiwari). Will the girls achieve their dreams? What are the challenges they face along the way? Will their friendship survive the turmoil caused as business partners? Well, you need to watch Do You Wanna Partner to know the answers, and below is our review of the comedy but emotionally high drama.

What Works

The show – despite being a comedy at heart, highlights some very important topics such as sexism in the workplace and business world, boundaries, relationships and more. Nandini Gupta, Nidhi Sethia and Aarsh Vora have done a decent job penning Do You Wanna Partner as it makes you both laugh and even feel bad for the characters during their lows. (PS: You are likely to even feel bad for Laila towards the end.)

What Doesn’t Work

The script is predictable – you know what to anticipate. There is little to no character growth in the entire series – not just the supporting case, but even the main leads. The show throws in every startup cliché from eager partners, rapid rise, messy rivalries, buyout bids, and inevitable disagreements.

Technical Analysis

Rajan Batra, Harshvardhan Gadhvi, Ronit Vinta, Juss, Prabhdeep, RUHH & JOH, KhoslaRaghu, and Kanishk Seth have delivered an amazing album with Do You Wanna Partner. The music helps takes the narrative forward.

Star Cast

The acting – by pretty much all the cast members, is the highlight of the show. Tamannaah plays her character with honesty making her shine even when the script offers little to it. Diana Penty has given her whole and soul to the role and that’s clearly visible in how she manages to be the CEO, balance her friendship with Shikha and even voice the alter ego David Jones alter ego. Jaaved Jaaferi shines despite being reduced to play a caricatured role including him wearing a wig 90% of the time. He adds emotional depth to the the series.

Rannvijay Singha is charming as Kabir – Shikha’s supportive boyfriend, but he’s largely wasted away. Nakuul Mehta shines as Bobby – his unruliness is refreshing. Shweta Tiwari eats every scenes she’s in as the fiery and no-non-sense gangster Laila. Neeraj Kabi is nothing more than a stock villain. Sufi Motiwala as Firdaus is witty and memorable.

Conclusion

Despite is flaws, Prime Video’s Do You Wanna Partner is a fun watch. You will binge the entire series in one sitting episode 1 t is out and can remind you of several girlie-girl shows. The series follows two childhood best friends, Shikha Roy Chowdhury and Anahita Makujina, as they venture into the male-dominated alcohol industry to launch their own craft beer brand, ‘Jugaaro’.

Watch the trailer of Do You Wanna Partner here:

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Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.