When Salman Khan and Govinda resurrected each other’s careers with Partner and broke their box office jinx

Partner was musical, stylish, funny and more. Despite being an official remake of Will Smith starrer hit comedy Hitch, it was adapted to suit the palate of the Indian audience. It had Salman Khan as a love guru and Govinda as his client. It also had style icons Katrina Kaif and Lara Dutta, and some incredible fashion.

Salman Khan played the character of Prem, while Govinda played Bhaskar.

Just before Partner happened, Govinda was trying to shed off his political image. He had turned to David Dhawan, expressing desire for a comeback. “David said no film will sell just in my name. They also needed to take a star,” Govinda said in an interview dated 2019. Partner was a two-hero film, but there appeared no competition to claim what was the other’s. Instead, Salman and Govinda had a great chemistry going and bounced off each other’s energy.

It was a phase when Govinda wasn’t getting much support from the industry. But Salman Khan came to his rescue, and helped him resurrect his career. “Once I was leaving the set, and randomly, my heart wished. I told Salman ‘I feel you won’t look back after this film’, and that’s exactly what happened,” Govinda shared.

Partner broke the jinx Salman and Govinda were facing at the box office. Partner brought them, at least Salman, back in the game. Salman followed its success with Wanted, and tables turned for him.

But for Salman, facing the camera with Govinda was both a dream come true and intimidating. “It’s a story of love and adulation with Govinda. How much comedy can you do when you work with him? I was petrified to come on screen with Govinda for the first 17 years of my life,” Salman said in a throwback interview.

Partner had an interesting casting of Salman Khan, Govinda, Katrina Kaif and Lara Dutta.

Partner was a perfect Bollywood potboiler. And Salman agrees too. According to him, it was all about comedy and dance, the two strengths of Govinda.

Partner showed Salman as a Casanova, while Govinda was an underconfident nerd, who approaches the love guru to impress his lady love, his boss played by Katrina. This was another catch. Salman and Katrina had already delivered hit film Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. They were a fan-favourite couple, and people wanted to see more of their onscreen chemistry. But in Partner, she was cast opposite Govinda and Lara Dutta was paired with Salman.

Partner was David Dhawan’s most urban story. It was also among his last hits. He had releases like Do Knot Disturb, Main Tera Hero, Judwaa 2 and Coolie No 1 in the later years, but none managed to leave a mark like his earlier filmography.

Partner was a plus for its entire cast too. It cemented Katrina and Lara’s careers, and gave a new lease of life to Govinda and Salman. It might have a slow build-up in the first half, but was a fun ride post. Bhaskar and Prem bhai’s ‘Partner-ship’ can surely give you “itni khushi” even after 15 years of release!