‘Rahu Ketu’: A mythological misfire

An animated sequence draws viewers into the lore of Rahu and Ketu, who originate from the head and body of asura Svarbhanu after he is decapitated by Lord Vishnu for tricking the Gods. The two inauspicious entities take on human form as the two bumbling, chaos-inducing leads of ‘Rahu Ketu’. The film follows their misadventures in Manali, or at least the director’s travel-vlogger idea of Manali, over its 2-hour-24-minute runtime.

The affable Piyush Mishra has an obvious appeal as a storyteller. He introduces Rahu and Ketu as righteous figures who would end corruption in the otherwise idyllic hill town. But starting from his Osho-reject robes to the “dhoti faad, nikla pahaad”-level dialogue writing, one begins to wonder if the talented actor at the very least took home a decent pay cheque for his efforts.

The film’s semi-CGI spectacle masquerades as plot when Rahu and Ketu stumble into murder and a drug mafia mess as Sharma’s Rahu falls for the wannabe “Ganja Queen”, Meenu Taxi. Yes, that’s what Shalini Pandey’s character is named — because she was born in a cab, operated by a company called Meenu, run by her mother. Sigh!

Whimsy can make mythology and philosophy more accessible when coupled with right intent. Maya Rudolph was a riot as the judge of the universe in NBC comedy ‘The Good Place’. Even Sanjay Dutt lent a certain eccentric charm to his Yamaraj in yesteryear’s ‘Vaah Life Ho To Aisi’.

Varun Sharma and Pulkit Samrat, the namesake Rahu and Ketu, unfortunately, are seldom given a chance to delve deep into their myths.

The two do deliver justice against corrupt police officials, an Israeli drug lord, theatre actors luring kids into selling cannabis, but never do we get to watch them pause and take stock of just exactly what’s at stake.

In fact, frequent collaborator Vipul Vig seems to lack faith in his own exploration. Instead of giving Rahu and Ketu room, he crowds the space with mindless subplots, witless side characters and confused, if well-intended, social messaging.

In one particular sequence, the Israeli drug lord coats a body in batter before stuffing it into a woodfired oven — one he also uses to bake pizzas for his popular, very Manali-esque bakery cafe. Does baking even require batter? Does it matter?

Handing out whatever little credit where it’s due, Pandey’s Meenu Taxi is no damsel in distress. She’s not passively repaying loans on a doomed apple orchard. She’s out there making deals for her latest cannabis produce, seducing her way out of sticky situations and, most importantly, owning up to her choices.

Even with her story though, there are missteps. Pandey, in one of her first scenes, gets slapped by a male character. In a post-Arjun Reddy (which also put Pandey at the centre of the now-infamous violence)/ ‘Kabir Singh’ world, is that a creative choice that the director absolutely couldn’t have done without?

The film also tries to tie all its ends far too neatly. After a timid climactic showdown with Meenu Taxi, Rahu and Ketu reclaim control of the narrative. Each character gets a verbose sermon on corruption, both financial and moral, as the leading duo use their magic to end their miseries.

Had some of the magic been reserved for actual character development, the film would not have faded into an eclipse.