What' s Up Lagna

Story: Aakash and Ananya meet on a cab ride. One thing leads to another and they end up falling in love.

Review: It’s heartening to see Marathi films breaking out of the typical family film zone and also treating subject like marriage in a mature way. In the recent past, multiple films like No Conditions Apply and Mala Kahich Problem Nahi have been examples the evolving definition of relationships and What’s Up Lagna takes this forward.

The film’s story begins with Aakash (Tatwawaadi) and Ananya (Behere) meeting by chance on a cab ride to Nashik. Ananya, an actress, is on her way home while Aakash, an IT professional, is visiting his company’s branch there. The chance meeting ends in Ananya forgetting her pen drive in the car and Aakash handing it back to her later. As they say, opposites attract. So, the messy and disorganised Ananya and the bordeline-cleanliness-OCD case Aakash strike a chord. After meeting a few times and learning about each other, they decide to take their relationship further. But life is not perfect and the couple understands this after a few months of being married.

Filmmakers presenting both sides of the coin and not getting into the ‘a girl has to make sacrifices after marriage’ bracket is a welcome change and that’s one of the good things about What’s Up Lagna. Another thing that works in the film’s favour is that it doesn’t give out a moral discourse on ideal relationships and rather focuses on what affects a modern day relation. Lack of patience? Erractic work hours and pressure? Or the lack of communication? These are some questions this film tries to answer.

Of course, Vishwas Joshi’s directorial comes with it’s share of cliched lines and mushy romance which make you throw up your hands in exasperation. Also, at 2 hrs 30 mins, the running time is a bit long. The makers could’ve done away with some spoon-feeding and left certain scenes open for the viewers’ interpretation.

As for the actors, Vaibhav and Prarthana are sincere and portray the different phases that their characters go through, with aplomb. Their pairing works yet again, thanks to the easy rapoort they share on screen and off it. The supporting actors’ list in What’s Up Lagna is filled with established actors, including Vidyadhar Joshi (who plays the cool and caring dad to Ananya with ease), Vikram Gokhale (the balancing factor that comes in the couple’s life when they need it the most), Ila Bhate, Vandana Gupte and Sneha Raikar. All these add to the film’s quality.

Courtesy the performances and certain aspects of the story, What’s Up Lagna is a one-time watch for sure.