David Dhawan’s ‘Partners’

David Dhawan has an enviable track record, with his last two films, MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI and MAINE PYAAR KYUN KIYA, proving money spinners at the box-office. So it does come as a surprise that his latest film, SHAADI NO. 1, released during the Diwali week, didn’t set the cash registers jingling.

However, David doesn’t belong to the breed that turns a blind eye to the box-office outcome or hesitates when it comes to accepting facts. “I think SHAADI NO. 1 went wrong in the post-interval portions,” DD seems to be in an introspective mood, “The last half-an-hour of the film was an absolute letdown. I’d packaged so much in the first hour that the expectations from the second hour were humungous. And somewhere down the line, the penultimate reels of the film just didn’t work.”

David also feels that had there been two releases this Diwali, instead of three, the results would’ve been far, far better. “GARAM MASALA had a clear edge. The Akshay-John pairing was its major USP. Also, the Jains [of Venus] went all out to promote the film, thereby ensuring that it took a fab start,” DD points out a valid reason.

Undeterred by the non-performance of SHAADI NO. 1, DD is making every possible effort to ensure that his forthcoming films live up to the expectations of the moviegoers. The first project to roll is the Sohail Khan-produced Salman Khan-Govinda starrer, which is finally titled PARTNERS.

Also in the pipeline are projects for UTV [Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan, one more hero], the Jains of Venus and of course, the remake of AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY for the Tauranis of Tips. Clearly, DD has his hands full… and yes, he’s raring to go!