What's Your Raashee - Movie Review

Damn! I forgot to check my day’s horoscope before catching up the first show of What's Your Raashee?. Now, as I nurse the bum ache of having sat through 3.30+ hours of this never-ending tale of bridal quest peppered with 13 long songs, I read my raashee clearly warning me of health hazards and possible monetary loss. Stars and planets can sometimes be spot on in predicting the daily human affairs.

Ashutosh Gowarikar - may stars bless him - exemplifies in ‘What’s Your Raashee’ how a brilliant story idea can be messed up when a filmmaker gets too involved in his own creation to think about the audience. So in this rom-com starring Priyanka Chopra in 12 roles, Ashutosh goes on and on and bombards the hapless viewers with song after song before finally wrapping up the film in a climax that leaves many jaws dropped (not out of snoring but disappointment) in the theatre.

But…but…but…my dear wakeful friends, somewhere between those unwanted songs and a few painfully stretched sequences, there lies a nice, entertaining film with delightfully wicked humour and fun. Only Ashutosh ought to have whittled away the overwrought rumps, he had a sure-shot hit on his hands. But perhaps, that was not in his raashee.

Based on Gujarati writer Madhu Rye’s book ‘Kimball Ravenswood’, ‘What’s Your Raashee?’ tells the story of a US-returned Yogesh Patel (Harman Baweja) who must find a suitable bride for himself within a fortnight, get married and inherit the wealth of his dear nanaji to save his family from the danger of an imminent financial bankruptcy brought on by his scandalous elder brother (Dilip Joshi).

A hesitant Yogesh hits upon an idea. Aided by his match-making uncle (Darshan Jariwala) he plans to meet a girl from a raashee each and then zero down on his bride. So, enter 12 Priyankas, each with a different zodiac trait.

While one girl (Aries) tries hard to please the NRI Yogesh, another (Aquarius) asks him to reject her because she’s already got a boyfriend. The third (Gemini) is a teenybopper who doesn’t want to get married soon. The fourth (Cancer) confesses to Yogesh that she’s not a virgin. The fifth (Libra) sees Yogesh as her ticket to the US. The sixth (Pisces) believes she and Yogesh are lovers of past lives reincarnated to unite in this life. The seventh (Leo) is a feisty dancer who thinks Yogesh is an NRI snob. The eighth (Scorpio) wants to use Yogesh to fulfill her dream of being a model. The ninth (Virgo) is a doctor who can’t leave her practice in India. The tenth (Sagittarius) is astrology obsessed. The eleventh (Taurus) is a rich heiress who pretends she’s mad. The twelfth (Capricorn) is a minor who doesn’t even want to get married.

So, as the drama trudges on, Yogesh must finalize one of these 12 girls to be his life partner. And the funny thing in ‘What’s Your Raashee’ is that he doesn’t even get to make that choice in the end.

The movie, though, can be seen for Priyanka’s terrific performances. She makes every one of her characters different - the slouch of a small-town girl, the bounciness of the teenybopper, the cockiness of a business executive, the swagger, the simper, the twitch of the lip, or the pursed brow of other characters. Priyanka rocks in ‘What’s Your Raashee.’ Harman Baweja pulls off his role pretty well after the disastrous performances in Love Story 2050 and Victory. In supporting roles, Darshan Jariwala and Mohan Agashe are first rate.

Apart from good performances, the movie does have well-penned, witty dialogues. In fact, the film is generously sprinkled with feelgood humour and is doubtlessly entertaining at times. If only Gowarikar knew how to rein in himself and cut down on the songs.

Just a statutory warning before I close. Cancel all appointments before you go to watch ‘What’s Your Raashee’. Sitting through this matrimonial marathon is like undertaking a long journey.

I went in clean shaven, came out with stubble.