What’s Your Rashee is the story of an MBA boy returning to India to get married, and his decision of meeting one girl from every star sign before he decides who he wants to marry. And as we all know, these 12 girls from the various star signs are all played by Priyanka Chopra. Seems like an interesting enough premise, but a sleepy pace, a lethargic attempt at comedy and a hero we never quite warm up to - make Rashee a sleep tablet substitute.
But to begin at the beginning, Harman is forced to come back to India so that he can marry and his dowry / grandfather’s estate can be used to extricate his older brother from a financial crisis. Then, Harman chances upon a book about star signs and he decides to meet 1 girl each from every star sign, and then decide whom to marry. The movie obviously culminates at the marriage, but by the time the movie draws to an end - you frankly don’t care about whom Harman chooses to marry.
When a screenplay has to run through 12 key characters, one expects a frantic or atleast a breezy pace - instead the screenplay plods from one wannabe-bride to another. Yes, Priyanka Chopra puts in a largely spirited performance which differentiates and endears most of the 12 wannabe brides, but Harman Baweja’s plain-jane, character then suffers by comparison. And Harman’s confusion about choosing a bride, about accepting dowry, etc - make him a very un-hero-like protagonist. Harman puts in a sincere performance, but still cannot endear himself to the audience.
We also have 3 other story tracks, but rather than contributing to a PG Wodehouse style melee, these tracks only further slow down the pace. The bumbling detective, the money lending don and the adulterous uncle … all have great potential for madcap humour, but the director’s treatment makes all these tracks fall completely flat. The music by Sohail Sen is neither here nor there - and largely manages to engage only in the theatres. This is a bit of a pity because a good performance by Priyanka Chopra, good camerawork by Piyush Shah and some excellent art direction by Nitin Desai are all wasted in this laboriously told story. If you really have 3.5 hours to spare this weekend, turn on some soap on the telly - they probably have a greater dramatic quotient.
Coming from one of India’s best Director’s - Rashee is a big disappointment. Hopefully Ashutosh Gowariker will return to his more familiar territory of socially conscious cinema, and Rashee will be the solitary mediocre flash-in-the-pan, in an otherwise illustrious career.