Let's
come
to
the
point
straight
away.
When
you've
films
like
Lagaan,
Swades
and
Jodhaa
Akbar
to
your
credit,
every
step
you
take,
every
move
you
make
comes
under
a
microscopic
view.
Naturally
then,
the
expectations
from
Ashutosh
Gowariker's
What's
Your
Raashee?
are
monumental.
There's
another
reason
why
What's
Your
Raashee?
is
special.
Casting
the
same
actor
in
12
different
roles
is
nothing
short
of
a
challenge
-
for
the
filmmaker,
for
the
writer
and
also
for
the
actor
in
question.
Now
let's
analyze.
What's
Your
Raashee?
works
in
parts.
There
are
12
raashees,
which
means
12
independent
stories,
plus
there's
a
story
of
the
dulha
(Hurman
Baweja)
and
his
family
as
well,
also
there's
a
story
of
a
family-friend
(Darshan
Jariwala)
running
concurrently.
That
makes
it
14
stories,
13
songs,
approx.
3.20
hours
running
time...
Now
to
the
vital
question:
Does
What's
Your
Raashee?
work?
Let
me
answer
this
question
by
raising
a
vital
point.
Did
the
running
time
(of
3
+
hours]
of
SholayY,
Hum
Aapke
Hain
Koun,
Lagaan,
Jodhaa
Akbar
and
Ghajini
bother
you?
I
am
sure,
it
didn't.
The
problem
with
What's
Your
Raashee?
is
not
its
length/running
time.
The
problem
is
its
content.
If
any
film
stands
on
a
weak
foundation
(writing),
even
1.30
hours
seem
never-ending.
Conversely,
if
the
writing
is
power-packed,
even
3.30
hours
of
entertainment
seems
less.
Let's
not
blame
the
length,
for
the
biggest
grosser
of
the
world
to
date
-
Titanic
-
also
had
a
running
time
of
3.17
hours.
What's
Your
Raashee?,
unfortunately,
lacks
the
power
to
keep
you
hooked
and
that's
the
prime
reason
why
its
running
time/length
is
sure
to
be
criticised.
Oh
yes,
What's
Your
Raashee?
has
some
wonderful
moments
and
award-worthy
performance[s]
by
Priyanka
Chopra,
but
everything
pales
into
insignificance
when
the
written
material
is
weak.
To
cut
a
long
story
short,
What's
Your
Raashee?
is
a
king-sized
disappointment
from
one
of
the
finest
storytellers
of
India.
What's
Your
Raashee?
is
the
story
of
Yogesh
Patel
(Hurman
Baweja),
a
young
man
who,
in
his
heart,
has
always
wanted
a
love
marriage.
Till
suddenly
he
is
told
that
he
must
find
his
dream
girl
within
ten
days
to
save
his
family
from
utter
ruin.
Finding
the
dream
girl
is
tough
enough.
Finding
her
in
a
hurry
is
even
tougher.
His
solution
is
simple;
he
will
meet
one
girl
from
each
raashee
-
sun
sign,
as
he
feels
that
is
the
best
way
to
make
sure
he
finds
a
suitable
wife,
while
also
giving
himself
twelve
chances
to
fall
in
love.
Two
meetings
per
day
gives
him
six
days
to
meet
them,
three
days
to
make
the
final
decision
and
he
can
get
married
on
the
tenth
day,
or
so
he
thinks.
Based
on
the
novel
'Kimball
Ravenswood'
by
Madhu
Rye,
the
concept
of
What's
Your
Raashee?
is
interesting,
but
the
big
screen
adaptation
isn't.
To
start
with,
you
connect
with
barely
a
few
stories,
mainly
the
one
who
has
a
past
and
also
the
final
one,
of
an
underage
girl.
But
several
stories
appear
ridiculous
and
hence,
ruin
the
impact
generated
by
several
wonderful
moments.
The
jeweller's
daughter,
who
believes
in
punar
janam,
falls
flat.
Ditto
for
the
other
jeweller's
daughter,
who
pretends
to
be
childish
so
as
to
test
the
intentions
of
the
dulha.
It's
farcical.
But
the
most
ludicrous
one
is
the
businesswoman
who
has
a
pre-nuptial
agreement
in
place,
even
before
meeting
the
dulha.
Even
Darshan
Jariwala's
track,
towards
the
end
specifically,
tests
the
patience
of
the
viewer.
The
detective
drama
is
also
ludicrous.
Besides,
the
climax
is
far
from
convincing.
The
nanaji
appears
suddenly
with
a
bagful
of
currency
and
the
dues
of
the
moneylenders
and
goons
are
settled
soon
after
the
saat
pheras.
How
convenient!
Even
the
choice
of
the
girl
is
debatable,
since
she
has
chosen
him
on
a
rebound
(when
she
found
that
her
lover
was
cheating
on
her).
In
fact,
the
dulha
had,
rightfully,
thought
of
the
girl
with
the
past
and
should've
settled
with
her
instead.
That
would've
been
a
convincing
finale.
Ashutosh
Gowariker
gets
it
wrong
this
time
thanks
to
the
poor
screenplay.
The
writing
is
the
biggest
culprit
here.
Sohail
Sen's
music
is
easy
on
the
ears,
but
why
so
many
songs?
A
few
songs
can
easily
be
deleted.
Piyush
Shah's
cinematography
is
perfect.
What's
Your
Raashee?
belongs
to
Priyanka
Chopra.
No
two
opinions
on
that.
Words
would
fail
to
do
justice
to
the
remarkable
portrayal
of
twelve
different
characters
by
this
actor.
This
is
her
finest
work
to
date.
Hurman
is
extremely
likable
and
enacts
his
part
with
complete
understanding.
Darshan
Jariwala
is
alright.
Anjan
Srivastava
is
as
usual.
Visshwa
Badola
is
first-rate.
Pratik
Dixit
does
well.
On
the
whole,
What's
Your
Raashee?
is
a
king-sized
disappointment.
Rating:
1
1/2
out
of
5*
Starring:
Harman
Baweja,
Priyanka
Chopra,
Anjan
Srivastava,
Visshwa
Badola,
Rajesh
Vivek,
Dilip
Joshi,
Daya
Shanker
Pandey
...
Director:
Ashutosh
Gowariker