Rahu Ketu

In the end, Rahu Ketu remains an interesting idea that never quite finds its footing. Despite a quirky premise, the film mistakes chaos for comedy. What could have been a sharp fantasy instead turns into an exercise in excess, leaving you more exhausted than entertained.

With a spectacular lack of creativity, the writer creates a modern-day Rahu and Ketu (Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma) inspired by the mythological characters. Like the originals, these two bring bad luck wherever they go. They are shunned by the villagers in Himachal, where they have landed. After a bit of pointless tomfoolery, the local femme fatale, Meenu (Shalini Pandey) rides in. Skimpily dressed when everybody else is bundled up, she strings along Rahu and two cartoonish cops (Amit Sial, Sumit Gulati). She ends up stealing the magic book, in the hope of taking over the drug business run by the Israeli Mordechai (Chunky Panday), whose name is mangled by everyone. In spite of Varun Sharma’s heavy lifting – he gets into the spirit of silliness more easily – and a fair amount of exertion by the other actors, Rahu Ketu simply refuses to be anything more than sporadically funny. The Himachal scenery does more for the film than its inane story. A sequel is on the cards – beware, Bollywood!

The script lacks the basic texture of storytelling. There is no clear beginning, no escalating middle, and no ending. The conflict is vague, the climax incoherent, and the motivations of almost every character remain undercooked. Shalini Pandey's wannabe drug queen is a particularly confused creation, written as a strange combination of empowered, ferocious, insensitive and clueless. She has no real chemistry with either of the leads and even less purpose. Piyush Mishra, once again cast as the old, enigmatic writer-poet-future-teller, appears painfully wasted. His presence promises depth, philosophy and subtext, but the film uses him as little more than a prop, another idea introduced without commitment to the story.