It's Priyanka Chopra's show all the way

It's Priyanka Chopra's show all the way




You: How is What's Your Raashee?

Me: Wrong question.

You: How long?

Me: Now you're talking.

Mr Yogi, Mr Yogi, remember that catchy refrain we would wait to hear on our Doordarshan-friendly television sets every single week? Now imagine those 13-episodes of Ketan Mehta's [ Images ] popular sitcom clubbed together for one single viewing. Well, that's how long What's Your Raashee? feels like.

It's the only goddamn obstacle in what could have been a socio-comic gem. What's Your Raashee? could have been at least one and a half hours shorter. Those thirteen songs could have been reduced to five. That ridiculous sub-plot about a marriage agent's illicit affair could have been done away with. There are just so many sequences that could have done with a snip here and a cut there.

As much as I appreciate his trademark idealism and eye for detail, filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker's weakness for lengthy cinema has always sparked debate. Personally, I had no issues with the running time of either Lagaan [ Images ] or Swades [ Images ] but Jodhaa Akbar [ Images ] did contribute in aggravating my spondylitis. What's Your Raashee? was never going to be a short film, considering its premise, inspired by Madhu Rye's Gujarati novel, Kimball Ravenswood, about an NRI guy coming to Mumbai [ Images ] to pick a perfect bride from 12 different astrological signs in ten days. What's the hurry, you ask?


Basically, the eligible bachelor in question, namely Chicago boy Yogesh Patel (Harman Baweja), is tricked into flying back home by his astrology-blind folks (an utterly believable Anjan Shrivastava and Manju Singh) to bail them out from monetary woes after their elder son (Dilip Joshi stumps you with yet another poker-faced winner) loses a fortune in gambling and owes an underworld don, among many others. The only thing that can save them now is his grandfather's inheritance, which Yogesh will procure only after he ties the knot.

Meanwhile, there's no overlooking a serious effort to shoot Mumbai as uniquely as possible. While there's no escaping a drive around Marine Drive [ Images ] and Fort, it's good to catch up with good ol' Kamla Nehru Park, the claustrophobic spaces of Bhuleshwar, lush greens of Powai while receiving a good glimpse of the upcoming neighbourhoods around Navi Mumbai lending the somewhat far-fetched set-up a much-welcome stroke of realism ..

The anticipation of watching Priyanka Chopra unleash her 12 conflicting avatars -- all Gujarati, however, keeps the optimism going. Establishing lot in less is still one of Gowariker's greatest limitations and hence the aforementioned scenario takes a little more than it should to unfold.

Also, if you have ever been (still are) into Linda Goodman's Sun Signs or Love Signs, spotting popular zodiac traits is one guilty pleasure you can never have enough of. Too bad most of the signs as projected in the movie are nothing like I expected them to be.