What's Your Raashee?

I saw this movie at it's Toronto International Film Festival premier. Having watched the hilarious promos, I was very excited.

For the few who don't know the plot, I'll give a brief outline. Yogesh Patel (Harman) is a MBA student at the University of Chicago. He is supposed to inherit his maternal grandfather's wealth once he gets married. In order to pay back his brother's huge debt he is forced by his family to get married and being the emotionally sensitive that he is, he gives in to his family's plead. He then decides to see 12 girls (all played by Priyanka Chopra), one from each Rashee (sun sign) in 10 days and decide the one he likes the most.

Okay, now to the actors. Each of the 12 characters's stories are unique and well detailed. Priyanka does a fantastic job at playing each role to perfection, well almost, there are some hiccups here and there. But, one has to really commend her growth as an actress. Harman was okay and still showed signs of immaturity as an actor. Though it was big improvement from the horrendous Love Story 2050.

The movie is 192 minutes long and you can feel it. Ashutosh really needs to make his movies shorter. The direction otherwise is top-class. The THIRTEEN songs are not that bad, but nowhere close to the expectations one would set for an A-list movie. I personally only liked the title track.

What let's it down is the storyline. The story gets slightly boring at times but it picks up and manages to keep you hooked and laughing for 180 minutes. It's what happens in the last 10 minutes is what ruined it, the ending is one of the worst I have ever seen. They build up such a suspense through out the move and it is perfectly poised for a big climax... and nothing. It ends in a lull.

I definitely recommend the movie for Priyanka's hilarious and outstanding performance and romantic comedy fans will surely love it. But, it was definitely not worth the $45 I spent on the premier, I would have preferred waiting for a week and watched it for 1/4th the price.

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.

How many of you were waiting for this one from Gowariker? i know many! Sadly for all Gowariker fans, What's Your Rashee is absolutely disappointing. Based on Madhu Rye's novel Kimball Ravenswood, WYR's script is as flat as it can possibly get.

What's Your Rashee's story revolves around Yogesh Patel(Harman Bhaweja) an MBA student studying in Chicago, who is forced to return to India after receiving a message about his father's deteriorating health. On reaching India is when the family of Yogesh let out the actual reason. Yogesh is then told about the share scam committed by his brother and the family's huge debt. He's also told about the solution offered by a astrologer according to whom, If Yogesh gets married on the 20th, huge wealth is to follow the family on the very day. He's given a mere 10 days to decide a girl and get married. It does not take long for his family to convince Yogesh and he's then out looking for brides. After a lot of confusion about the brides shortlisted by his uncle, Yogesh comes up with a bizarre idea of meeting one girl from each of the 12 zodiac signs. And the plot leading upto Yogesh deciding his soul mate among the 12 is for you to watch it yourself.

Gowariker seems to have failed miserably with WYR provided the quality of movies that he

made previously. The movie fails to take off and the plot of the movie does not really convince you at any level. The one and the only thing that is impressive with WYR is Priyanka Chopra's impeccable performance playing 12 different characters. She's absolutely mind blowing with each of the 12 characters and probably the only thing that makes you sit right through the exhausting 3 hours 15 minutes. Harman Bhaweja is good and tries his best to make an impact with his honest acting supported well by rest of the cast. The funnier parts that were supposed to be funny are not funny and it just frustrates you more.

The music by Sohail Sen is ordinary and the 12 songs used for 12 the different characters are not impressive either.

Reviewed By- Raghav Ramaiah

Originally Posted at talkingpopcorns.com