Whats Your Raashee

Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Producer: Sunitha,Ronnie Screwvala
Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Hurman S. Baweja, Anjan Shrivastava, Visswa Badola, Rajesh Vivek, Dilip Joshi, Daya Shankar Pandey, Honey Chhaya, Darshan Jariwala, Manju Singh, Bhairavi Vaidya, Pratik Dixit, Manoj Shah, Dr. Ajit Kulkarni, Geeta Tyagi
Music Dir: Sohail Sen

Director Ashutosh Gowarikar turned director with a flop film Baazi starring his close friend Aamir Khan. No one took note of him until he made the superhit film Lagaan which not only established him as a front line director in India but won his global accolades.

He rose another few notches when he made Swades and Gowarikar completed the hattrick of his hits with his last film Jodhaa Akbar. So, after making three hits in a row what one could expect from such a celebrated director? Another entertainer, but Ashutosh’s midas touch seems to have been lost somewhere this time while making his latest What’s Your Rashee?.

If you look at the last three hits from Ashutosh’s stable of films, each one of them had major stars, and it was their sheer presence in the film and its story that made Gowarikar’s film a rage even before its official release.

This time he put his bet on a novice, Harman Baweja who had made a disastrous debut with his home production Love Story 2050. Harman Baweja saved his face from this super flop when a director like Ashutosh Gowariker announced his next with him, What’s Your Rashee?

Ashutosh Gowariker was also recently in the news for rebuking and turning down several film awards’ functions. People in the Hindi film industry started labeling him as an egotist. Many would think that indeed this flop has given him the necessary “speed breaker” in his career so that he can start thinking of film making all over again.

Ashutosh had a good story in his hand from a novel written by Madhu Rey, but what he did not have was a right script for his film. The film has all the naach-ganna and rona-dhona that have been traditional ingredients of a hindi pot boiler, but he failed in getting the plot points of the film right.

What’s Your Rashee? Is actually like a plate full of different kinds of sweets served during the Durga Puja festiveal. You want to eat each one of them because they look yummy, but once you start eating them you realize that there is not much difference in one from another. By the time you are about to taste the last one, you are fed up of the taste. Same thing happens with the stories interwoven in the plot of this film.

A young boy (Harman Baweja) who has been dreaming all his life for a love marriage is suddenly put in a situation where he has to find a bride for himself in a limited number of days. He has no clue as to what to do now, so he plans to meet one girl of each zodiac sign.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it ? Yes, the plot of the film is so crazy that a common viewer finds it hard to keep track of what is going on. The different girls played by Priyanka Chopra may be a mile stone for the actress and she may find her name entered in some record books for this, but it is not the same case for the film producers.

May be the producers knew the fate of the film in advance and that is why for the last two three days there was a huge cry over piracy of the film and they even went ahead and filed legal suits against their labs and digital distributors ! All said and done, What’s Your Rashee? would have been a non-starter even if there was no piracy.

The weakest link of the film is its script. The film never really takes off from the ground, it moves on the same geographical level except in the end when the director tries to make the film melodramatic by inserting few characters from out of the blue.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker has failed in this film miserably, not only on the directorial front but also on chosing a wrong script. Harman Baweja had huge hopes from this film but his rashee seems to be affected by some bad planets, he needs a good astrologer for sure now.

Priyanka Chopra will not suffer much from the failure of this film because she has a line of super hits in the recent past. What’s Your Rashee? is a more-than-below average film that has no scope of survival at the box office.

Zombieland English Movie 2009
Reviews :

Woody Harrelson (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) and Jesse Eisenberg (ADVENTURELAND) star in this horror comedy that boasts equal parts giggles and gore.

Two men have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss – but when you’re afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-totin’, zombie-slayin’ badass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) doesn’t have fears. If he did, he’d kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they’re about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.

In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss — but when you’re afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying’ bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

Bill Murray will make a cameo appearance as one of the infected
A cowardly shut-in named Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is forced to join up with a seasoned zombie slayer named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. As Tallahassee sets out on a mission to find the last Twinkie on Earth, the duo meets up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two young girls who have resorted to some rather unorthodox methods to survive amidst the chaos. Reluctant partners in the battle against the undead, all four soon begin to wonder if it might be better to simply take their chances alone.

Two men have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss – but when you’re afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-totin’, zombie-slayin’ badass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Produced by Gavin Polone
Written by Paul Wernick
Rhett Reese
Starring Woody Harrelson
Jesse Eisenberg
Emma Stone
Abigail Breslin
Music by David Sardy
Cinematography Michael Bonvillain
Editing by Peter Amundsen
Alan Baumgarten
Studio Relativity Media
Pariah Films
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) October 2, 2009
Country United States
Language

Cast

Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee
Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus
Emma Stone as Wichita
Abigail Breslin as Little Rock
Amber Heard as Maggie

PARTING SHOT

Zombieland isn’t concerned about messages or metaphors or stern warnings about the future in which society is headed; it just wants to make you laugh and have a good time. In that sense, it’s an unqualified success.