A Glossy Start-Up Saga That Trips on Its Own Glass Ceiling
Do You Wanna Partner? begins with a lot of promise — two women brimming with entrepreneurial spirit, ready to disrupt the status quo. Or rather, one does, and the other, her ever-dutiful best friend, joins after her own jolt of workplace reality: the sting of sexism. It’s an emotionally charged decision that soon morphs into something far more structured: they sketch plans, pitch to investors, meet creative visionaries, cautious allies, and the occasional coward in boardrooms.
It’s slick, binge-worthy, and sprinkled with clever touches. The music is electric without being overbearing, and the performances are uniformly strong – from protagonists to antagonists and even the side characters. There’s a refreshing roster of faces: a female don/moneylender who quietly commands her space, a single dad who is portrayed as nurturing and ambitious, and some genuinely fun explorations of branding. Watching their product naming attempts flop and then land feels delightfully real.
But even in these early episodes, a few cracks start to show. The tone occasionally slips from “ambitious women leading fearlessly” into “ambitious women learning how to be led.” Their achievements are often narrated through others’ perspectives, and hints of savior-like male figures pop up long before the plot makes it obvious. It’s subtle at first, almost easy to miss and that’s what makes it unsettling.
Now, here’s your spoiler alert, tread ahead carefully if you haven’t watched the series yet.
Once you peel back the shiny packaging, though, the show stumbles. At first glance, it seems empowering, but at its core it reinforces the very power dynamics it sets out to challenge. Nearly every major problem the women face is ultimately solved by… a man. No matter the role (mentor, investor, love interest, even adversary turned ally) the show makes sure a man swoops in to ‘fix’ it. The women are consistently portrayed as emotionally impulsive, indecisive, or simply incapable of sealing deals on their own.
Shikha insults Anahita, hides crucial information, makes rash choices, and even breaks up with her perfectly good boyfriend simply to fuel the plot. Anahita, meanwhile, is boxed into the tired trope of the lonely, aching single woman: brilliant but yearning. It’s as if everything that has historically been used to stereotype women (emotional instability, romantic desperation, poor leadership) is served up again here, just dressed in trendy co-ord sets and corporate lighting.
I came across a review on Koimoi by Trisha Gaur that called out how the show seems to quietly suggest that the “Ditches The Pseudo Feminism Route & Vouches Why ‘Sahi Mard Zaroori Hota Hai!” Whether she was being sarcastic or a pick me, I’m not sure, but she’s not wrong about the messaging. The show practically shouts that women can only succeed if they appoint a man to lead them, while they pull strings quietly from behind. Even supplier negotiations, distributor meetings, and investor discussions only move forward once a man steps in.
And that’s what makes this so frustrating, there’s a genuinely promising, exciting story here. One that started to show what female leadership could look like, before it handed the steering wheel back to men and asked its heroines to buckle up quietly.
Verdict: Do You Wanna Partner? is a entertaining one-time watch with strong performances and interesting cameos but its message fumbles badly. It acts as a feminist anthem but is a determined ode to male saviors. It gets a 2.5 stars, from me.
