Unfavourable ‘raashee’

If the trailers looked snappy, the movie bogs you down. Ashutosh Gowariker has a weakness for long films, whether Lagaan or Jodhaa Akbar, but unlike the earlier two, What’s Your Raashee? isn’t worth the three-hour-plus wait.

The concept seems intriguing at the outset. Hero meets heroine not once but twelve times. And horoscope fiends – there are more than will admit it – have a zodiac inspired film for light Puja entertainment. Plus, there’s the Ashutosh Gowariker tag. But a weak script and way too many songs play spoilsport.

It begins like this. Eligible Gujju bachelor Yogesh Patel (Hurman Baweja) has a happy life in Chicago until his no-good brother Jitu (Dilip Joshi) squanders away crores of share market money. To save Jitu bhai from a jail stint, NRI Yogesh agrees to get married by the 20th of that month to avail a windfall predicted by the astrologer.

What follows is meeting after meeting with prospective brides, all of whom happen to look like Priyanka Chopra. Why? Yogesh turns to his super-rich grandfather, and Nanaji has a ready answer. It’s because Yogesh is looking for his sapnon ki rani in every girl that he meets, he explains. Simplistic isn’t it? Makes you ask yourself if this really is a Gowariker helmed film.

And this is just the start.

The film’s boasts of a dozen songs with music by Sohail Sen. Most are forgettable. The title number is probably the only one you’ll go out humming. Su chhe could also get those feet tapping. The rest sound like Yash Raj wannabes extracting sighs of resignation. “Not another song,” you plead. If every raashee had to have a musical sequence with the hero, the entire song wasn’t needed. Editor Ballu Suleja should have cut and snipped and made the film an hour shorter.

Having said that, the cinematography by Piyush Saha is fantastic and some of the choreography is top-notch.

Priyanka Chopra is excellent in her twelve different Gujju avatars. From the non-English speaking Anjali and NRI Sanjana to the tragic Hansa and closet model Nandini – she brings a different mood to each role. It’s only fair that her name shows up in the credits a dozen times. Just watch her in her twelve different avatars in the title song at the end – she brings a variation to each character even while dancing to the same steps. After Fashion and Kaminey this year, her comic stint in What’s Your Raashee? continues to showcase her good form.

Hurman seems to have overcome his Hrtithik hangover somewhat. Strangely enough though, there is a fleeting resemblance to Ranbir Kapoor in parts. Acting-wise, he’s competent. But if audience reaction is to be believed, What’s Your Rashee? looks set to flop. And with two flops in a row and few swooning teens behind him, one wonders how bright the future is for his raashee.

Some of the supporting characters add a fun touch to the proceedings. Dilip Joshi is wonderful as the bungling, debt-ridden Jitu bhai. There’s also the Bhai who clips off fingers of non-paying debtors, the astrologer who’s also part-time detective, the philandering Debu kaka and his suspicious wife Kanta. But the subplots, like the songs, add little to the main storyline.

Priyanka’s twelve avatars largely remain underdeveloped. And it’s pretty clear to all except Yogesh who he will end up with. By the time the predictable climax trudges in, the viewer’s too glad the film’s over to dwell on the damp squib of a twist. After, three-and-a-half hours of astrological nuttiness, it’s time to return to reality.


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