'Do You Wanna Partner': Fresh brew, but froth missing

This is a series that promises to be a fresh brew, the ingredients being two spunky women wanting to be craft beer entrepreneurs, their struggles, their friendships and all that uncorked ambition. On paper, heady. But on screen, the fizz is pretty uneven.

Tamannaah Bhatia (Shikha) and Diana Penty (Anahita) give it their all. Their chemistry is quite spot-on, and at certain times, you do want to root for them, their bonding. But the script rarely keeps up. Every time the narrative builds up steam, be it about patriarchy, power equations or sexism at work, it retreats and
flattens out like yesterday’s beer.

The Dharmatic Universe does not give up its deathly grip on slick and shine. Nope. These two are out of work and bootstrapped. But their workspaces have a Gen Z gleam, and their make-up, hair and outfits do not suffer the ignominies of 24/7 jugaad. Where’s the mess before the launch? The craziness? The frustration? Admittedly, it looks good, but so polished that you never get to taste the gritty flavour of realism ever.

The supporting cast has its moments. Nakuul Mehta, as the brewmaster, is competent, Jaaved Jaaferi can still elicit a few laughs, and Neeraj Kabi plays the frothy villain with much relish. That said, there are not many Indian series that are centred on two women intent on the hustle, and this one aims to be funny as well. Cheers to that. However, the story and screenplay are both under-brewed, the execution tepid. What this beer needed was really bolder crafting.