Do You Wanna Partner Series Review: Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty's pint-sized drama has no fizz

Do You Wanna Partner Series Review:

Exactly a year after Ananya Panday’s drowsy and cluttered riches-to-rags comedy-drama, Call Me Bae comes Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty’s Do You Wanna Partner, a show about two best friends starting a beer brand. There’s an obvious visual and tonal similarity between the two Dharmatic Entertainment outings with characters dressing less like real-people and more like ambassadors of fashion brands. So, even the emotions they proclaim seem conveniently manufactured, carrying the flashy energy of an Instagram reel where everything is a fairytale. Directed by Collin D’Cunha, both the shows are in a way companion pieces, telling generic women-centric stories for the attention deficit gen-Z audience with the screenplay following trends more than deepening character bonds. If Call Me Bae was about a social media influencer, Do You Wanna Partner features emerging entrepreneurs. If the two shows met at a bar, catchwords like reach, equity, profit, returns and share would populate the on-table discussions. They will make a toast remembering the similarities, clink glasses to algorithmic glory and chug beer to forget the shared monotony.

A similar scene takes place early on in Do You Wanna Partner, where a jobless Shikha (Tamannaah) proposes the idea of starting her own company to her best friend, Anahita (Diana) as they sip beer in a pub. Shikha asks a reluctant Anahita to join her, who initially declines the offer but agrees later as she experiences sexism at her workplace. The two decide to be their own bosses and start a craft beer brand, taking inspiration from the recipe of Shikha’s late father, a passionate brewer who was betrayed by his own friend, Vikram Walia (Neeraj Kabi), who went on to become the CEO of a liquor brand. Aware of his treachery, Shikha wishes to fulfil her father’s dream.

Directed by: Collin D'Cunha and Kumar

Written by: Nandini Gupta, Aarsh Vora and Mithun Gangopadhyay

Created by: Mithun Gangopadhyay and Nishant Nayak

Streamer: Prime Video

The show essentially feels like an extended B-roll video package of two contestants appearing on Shark Tank India (Anupam Mittal makes a guest appearance in one episode too), showing their journey of building a brand from Day 1. It involves initially working out of a makeshift office, looking for investors with a brand name decided on a whim and figuring out the logistics of a world dominated by men. No one takes them seriously at first. It’s only when a hungover Anahita, speaks to a dealer with her sore throat and gets mistaken for a man, that things start rolling for the two. The show takes everything casually as it is whole-heartedly focused on how the two take their company to the next level. They are always figuring out solutions to endless conflicts, meeting people, shifting cities when there is little left to root for in their tiring journey. Their struggles don’t feel as authentic. It is strictly business as usual.

Shikha and Anahita come out as unidimensional characters who are merely reacting to the problems that the screenplay is throwing at them. Got no funds? Go take a high-interest loan from a shrewd female gangster, Laila (Shweta Tiwari). Need a male face to lead the brand? Go look for the con-artist, Dylan (Jaaved Jaaferi) and turn him into a brand ambassador. Most of its scenes are painfully long and emotionally distant. What was essentially a 30-minute business pitch has been turned into an eight-episode series. Its no-effort demeanor seeps even in the performances. Tamannaah and Diana get the central parts here but the hollowness in the writing doesn’t offer them much to do beyond their own real-life personas. It is exciting to watch Jaaved initially, however, he falls into the cycle of repetition soon. Nakuul Mehta as the passionate beer-maker has a charming presence but fails to rise beyond his confused characterisation. Even Shweta Tiwari feels out-of-place in a role that is dry and superficial.

Dry and superficial. These are words which also aptly describe much of what is coming out of Indian streaming recently. Except for a few flagship shows and occasional experiments that strike a chord, the rest just looks and feels the same. Nuance has long been lost along the way. This is just an extension of social media reels where you scroll down to Bella from Call Me Bae and reach Shikha and Anahita from Do You Wanna Partner. It suddenly gives a whole new meaning to second-screen content. Who needs two screens when you can get a superior feeling in just one? Maybe it is meant to be that way. Maybe Gondogol, meaning colossal mess, isn’t just a random name of the beer brand chosen by Shikha’s father. Maybe it is a warning on what’s to follow. It comes together when Shikha names her brand, Jugaaro, as she proclaims in a scene, “Business ka doosra naam Jugaad hota hai (Business is all about finding smart hacks)”. Sadly, though, there’s no easy hack to tell a good story.