‘Do You Wanna Partner’ Review: Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty’s Beer-Brewing Comedy Series Is Frothy but Too Flat! (LatestLY Exclusive)

Do You Wanna Partner Review: Starring Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty, Do You Wanna Partner is an eight-episode series, directed by Archit Kumar and Collin D’Cunha and written by Nandini Gupta, Aarsh Vora, and Mithun Gongopadhyay. The show has all the ingredients to make it a hit recipe. Two very good-looking leads. It is made by one of Bollywood's biggest banners, Dharma Productions, under its OTT arm Dharmatic. ‘Do You Wanna Partner’: Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty Team Up for Comedy Series, Share Fun Secrets About Each Other (Watch Video).

The premise is refreshing on paper: two friends who decide to start their own beer brewing company, navigating corruption, sexism, corporate politics, and shady loan sharks along the way. Unfortunately, as with many series, an interesting idea doesn’t guarantee an engaging show. This, despite the fact that the show comes with one of the most quirky crew-credit titles I’ve ever seen in an Indian production - 'beer consultant.'

Do You Wanna Partner Review - The Plot

Shikha (Tamannaah) and Anahita (Diana Penty) are best friends whose careers suddenly hit a dead end. Out of work, they decide to go into business together, brewing beer based on a recipe left behind by Shikha’s late father.

Watch the Trailer of 'Do You Wanna Partner':

But 'Make in India' isn’t an easy path. The duo face bureaucratic nightmares, sleazy dealers, and multiple crises, twisting their way out of situations through lies and quick-fix manipulations.

'Do You Wanna Partner' Review - A Humour-Less Comedy

Do You Wanna Partner stumbles right from its opening episode. Its quirky tone never fully clicks, and what we get instead is a plasticky tale of two friends taking a shallow plunge into entrepreneurship. The obstacles they face are painted in broad strokes, and the humour mostly falls flat.

The series tries to spotlight sexism in business and corporate spaces - an important issue - but does so with such a heavy hand that it feels almost flippant. Anahita’s work being reduced to just her smile, or a supplier taking them seriously only when mistaking their voices for men, could have been sharp commentaries. But the way these moments are hammered in without nuance makes them almost unbelievable.

Jaaved Jaafery’s Dylan, a bumbling theatre actor roped into posing as a billionaire investor, injects some life into the series, though it takes a couple of episodes for his presence to matter. Until then, Do You Wanna Partner ambles along with a string of humourless mishaps.

'Do You Wanna Partner' Review - Very Generic Screenplay

Unfortunately, even Dylan’s presence - or Shweta Tiwari’s fun turn as a money-lending gangster named Laila - doesn’t elevate the show much. The girls’ plan to con everyone by turning Dylan into an enigmatic tycoon is mildly amusing, but predictability overshadows much of the plot. Be it the romance between Anahita and their eccentric brewmaster (Nakuul Mehta) or the inevitable ego clash between the two leads, the arcs feel tired and uninspired.

Worse, the show doesn’t offer any clever insight into how our protagonists actually build a brand or navigate their business struggles. Even the finale, which should have been a rousing payoff, lacks any real wow factor. ‘Call Me Bae’ Season 1 Review: Ananya Panday Shines in This Glossy Guilty Pleasure That Plays It Too Safe and Shallow!

There were chances for deeper exploration — like Shikha’s strained relationship with her chef boyfriend (Rannvijay Singha). Like Karan Johar’s own Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, there was potential to show that a relationship can falter even when one partner is too caring or compromising. Instead, the series takes an easy, compromised route.

Shikha and Anahita’s characters also never get fleshed out enough for us to truly root for them. Shikha is frustratingly reckless - her decision to collaborate with a gangster without even consulting Anahita is baffling. Her motivations, often tied to flashbacks of her father, never feel compelling enough.

Anahita, too, is inconsistently written. At one point, she claims she left her job just to go into business with Shikha, which contradicts the earlier revelation that she quit because she was denied a promotion and objectified at work. Their big fallout also feels forced rather than organically developed.

Their characterisation feels inconsistent. For instance, in one scene, Anahita tells Shikha she left her job solely because of their friendship to go into business with her. She must be suffering from a convenient case of amnesia, as it was clearly established earlier that she quit after being passed over for promotion, with her male colleagues seeing her as nothing more than a client 'honeypot'. So, when the show tries to introduce friction into their working relationship, it feels forced for the sake of drama.

Sadly, they come across as two people who should be kept far away from any business venture. I should have got that hint when they decided to name their beer 'Chaka Chak'. I don't drink, but even a teetotaller like me knows that sounds more like a brand of washing-up soap than an alcoholic beverage.

'Do You Wanna Partner' Review - The Performances

At least, Tamannaah and Diana Penty's zestful performances make their camaraderie watchable. They genuinely feel like real-life friends, though their frequent attempts to sound Gen-Z with forced slang (like calling Kolkata 'Cal') come across as farcical. Jaaved Jaaferi is charming and brightens up the screen whenever he appears, though his character's 'sacrifice' near the end of the show makes little sense. Nakuul Mehta, meanwhile, seems to be channelling Vikrant Massey in his performance.

Neeraj Kabi plays the main antagonist, Walia, a major liquor baron with a backstory linked to Shikha's father. While the actor plays the character with a certain quirkiness, the character itself feels underused when it comes to bringing actual menace to the narrative. As Walia himself comments in the finale, he is simply a villain because the leads' storyline needed one, and Tiwari's Laila had too much pizzazz to be made into the baddie.

Shweta Tiwari was quite the badass as the shrewd loan shark. Sufi Motiwala, who plays Anahita's snarky sibling, gets some of the best put-downs. Frankly, he should have reviewed this series. He would have snarked it to pieces better than I ever could.

'Do You Wanna Partner' Review - Final Thoughts

Do You Wanna Partner had a frothy, fun premise with plenty of scope for a smart, female-led dramedy. But its inconsistent, depthless and humourless treatment, and predictable storytelling leave it losing out on its foamy nature and feeling flat. Tamannaah and Diana’s chemistry keeps it from completely collapsing, but it’s hardly a series worth raising a glass to. Do You Wanna Partner is streaming on Prime Video.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2025 01:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).