What's Your Raashee?

Okay, I watched this because it was on Netflix's list of films being deleted for instant play. I guess they ran out of server space or something. I'm not that familiar with Bollywood films, but this is not my first one.

I'll skip the synopsis. As an American, I found Yogesh's American-ness and Priyanka's (whichever version's) endless chicago references very entertaining. Outside of that, The Pros: 1. Priyanka. If you just want to watch her all day, it's a good movie for that.

2. It's actually funny most of the way through, even the awkward bits with the debt and the spying. The parents of Priyankas (Priyanki?) were also very entertaining.

3. The music, mostly. There are several good Indian songs, and maybe a couple western style ones that didn't work so well. There's one in there that reminded me of scandanavian metal.

4. Dancing. I get that this is the best part of a bollywood film. American movies haven't been up to this since the 1950s.

The Cons: 1. Length. At 3+1/2 hours, you have to have a lot of story, and WYR runs out after about 2 hours, like any romantic comedy. Everything about the situation has already been said, and we roll on with less interesting stuff. If it's too long for you, just skip ahead to the Priyanka scenes you're probably watching it for.

2. Social Messages. I see a lot of people saying this was a plus, but I felt like the film was hitting me over the head with political correctness. I suspect if I were an Indian I'd be actually offended. It's the movies job to entertain us, not reprogram us.

3. Not everything quite works in the story. It misses the opportunity for a play on Priyanka playing all the girls, and plot development threads don't really go anywhere. That in mind, it's okay to skip through them to browse for pure entertainment.

Overall it was as substantive as a western romantic comedy, but no more, so light on content, but very entertaining.

The Bad: -Length. Film is nearly 3 1/2 hours long. They could easily have done away with 4 of the songs (e.g. Maanunga Maanunga, Saloni, Su Che and Dhadkan Dhadkan), the whole Devukaka cheating and Bhai subplots, and the film would have lost nothing. In fact, it would have been much more enjoyable. -Editing. Renu Saluja should have challenged her director about the worthiness of some of the frivolous scenes. -The lengthy Bond style interpretive dance intros for each female character got annoying real quick. Yeah, Priyanka looks smoking, but the device wears its welcome quick.

The Good: -Priyanka Chopra -Priyanka Chopra Oh and did I forget to mention, Priyanka Chopra? A few years ago, I would have never believed the awkward side heroine from Sunny Deol's miserable Hero would grow in to such a Fine (in more ways that one) actress. She grabs you the second she walks in with her first role as Anjali, and you'll be hooked all the way to the end of the Jhankhana act. Songs are almost all great (and only downside is some are unnecessary in the movie).

Have a feeling some audience members who are obsessive about their belief in astrology may be offended by Ashutosh playing on the characters. But my wife and I thought it was cute. If only the film had repeat value in the cinemas.

Whats your Rashee is a good movie..............................;;;;;;;; very enjoyable It Gets you involved---------------------------------- in it and you wont Get up from your seat until the very end............... There are some Funny moments and the songs are treat to our ears,,,,,,,,, they are very------------------------------------------------------------ good!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Both priyanka and Harman have done good acting.. On the whole nice one go watch it... ignore other comments ! ! ! !!

I've been following the films made by Ashutosh Gowariker, who has helmed huge epics and worked with the biggest names in Bollywood today, such as Lagaan with Amir Khan, Swades with Shah Rukh Khan, and his previous film Jodhaa Akbar starring Hrithik Roshan and Ashwarya Rai Bachchan. And it's a fact that his films have runtimes of about 3.5 hours, which goes by real quickly as he keeps the story engaging, and the production values for this films are nothing less than magnificent. So naturally my interest was piqued as the auteur has now turned his sights on a romantic comedy, and I wonder exactly how a filmmaker such as he would be able to tackle this mass-appeal genre.

Based on the novel "Kimbali Ravenswood" by Madhu Rye, What's Your Rashee? (or translated as star sign for the English speaking audience) has all the ingredients that would allow for the runtime to stretch to a typical Gowariker length, but that's only because the challenge is to present all 12 female characters representing their respective star signs with attempts at equal runtime for each, with a song being inserted during the whirlwind courtship, clocking 13 tunes when the typical production averages 5. Think of it as an extreme speed dating where we get to know the opposite sex in some detail, with some travelling involved as the production showcased different districts in Mumbai, which of course is an eye-opener for one who has never visited India, yet.

The story's actually nothing sophisticated, and by romantic comedy standards quite predictable at times. Basically Yogesh Patel (Harman Buweja), an Non-Resident Indian living in Chicago has been summoned back to India because his parents learnt of his multi-million dollar inheritance from his grandfather should he get married, and the family now needs that kind of money to pay off his brother's debts. He reluctantly agrees of course, and sets himself up to meet initially hundreds of girls, but inspiration struck and he decided that he should be 12, one maiden under each star sign.

The main draw of the film is of course actress Priyanka Chopra, who has taken on possibly her most challenging film to date, playing 12 characters with more than 12 personalities. Why I say this is because some of her characters are putting on a facade, thus allowing more room for Priyanka to showcase her acting chops, which she did, with the help of stylists decking her out in beautiful dresses, varying make up, wigs, contact lenses and prosthetics even. That's only the physical outlook – you would be amazed at the physical presentation at how chameleon-like this ex-Miss World can be – and she takes her roles on with gusto to make you feel with some, laugh at some, and endear towards some through some wonderful pieces of acting. Not to mention that she broke the record set by Kamal Hassan, who tackled 10 characters in his movie Dasavatharam.

Unfortunately for Harman Baweja, who's in need for a booster to his fledging career after the flop Love Story 2050 (which incidentally also co-starred Priyanka), and the lacklustre Victory, his role as Yogesh, quite obsessed with doing the right thing each time, finds himself constantly upstaged and overshadowed by Priyanka's performance. It's a little pity of course, given that if it's anyone who can help him it'll likely be Gowariker given the director's strengths, but this was not to be as it's pretty much the leading lady's vehicle. But that's not to mean that Gowariker's film here is without flaws. Amongst his works to date, I feel that this was perhaps the weakest of the lot, suffering from a number of subplots which provided nothing more than a distraction to the meat of the story, such as that involving the infidelity of his uncle and marriage-consultant (Darshan Zariwala), and that of the loansharks who pop up now and then for unnecessary comic relief.

However, its strengths more than compensated for its drawbacks, such as how Priyanka just ran with her opportunities to shine, 12 times. The story also provided some insights into how arranged marriages, with dowries and all, are still conducted and quite a cultural thing, and the plights that some family face with having too many daughters, and wondering how best to have them married off. As the encounters with the different women were rather stand- alone, each allowed for the examination of traits and characteristics that will make you love, or loathe, and generally applies across the board, which allows you to identify with such instances.

But for all its narrative twists in secrets that cannot be kept, for its fleeting discussions on honesty or lack thereof, what I enjoyed most was the quasi-explanation of why the females that Yogesh meets, all share a striking resemblance with one another, which other characters don't seem to agree with, but only to the male protagonist. I liked how it was mentioned that we all have this preconceived idea of how our soul mate would preferably look like, and from then we tend to project this thought onto whomever we think would have a chance with, or at least tend to take those physical bits into consideration, only for their inner character, when revealed, to be anything but adhering to our dreams.

What's Your Raashee? for the romantic in me, worked wonders, and will leave you guessing at the end just who Yogesh would end up with, since Gowariker deliberately kept you hanging in suspense for as long as he possibly could. I'd recommend it as a date movie anytime if you're looking for something different from the usual Hollywood fare. Just remember to empty your bladders before the show starts, or you'll have to plan to hit the loo just about the time Leo gets introduced, for that inbuilt intermission.

First of all, WYR is based on a pretty interesting premise - the 12 zodiac signs. It has universal appeal as almost everyone has read their daily horoscope and is familiar with the sun signs. However, the interesting part stops right there and the movie is treated in a very banal manner. Every girl in the zodiac gets a song of her own - quality and brevity suffers as a result. Perhaps a better idea might have been to have just one-verse songs - it would be innovative while not taking away from the film-maker's vision. For some reason Gowariker sticks to the tried and tested. What we end up is a 200-minute movie. I looked up at my watch at least 5 times, and that is never a good sign.... The best thing about the movie is Priyanka Chopra who is able to create 12 distinct characters and essays contrasting roles be it a simple Gujju village girl or an uber-cold professional with relative ease. Harman has his moments especially when he is empathizing with other characters and remains understated. The rest of the cast is real and authentic for the most part and keeps moving the story forward unlike the songs. All in all, WYR had the potential to be a rom-com with small sub-plots - almost a la PG Wodehouse. However, it turns to formula and ends up in the mediocre realm.