I strongly believe that Bollywood has been churning out some great films in almost every genre, except for one – horror. Very few horror films of Bollywood create an impact and we have a long way to go in this regard. Everytime an interesting horror film is all set to release, expectations that the flick would push the envelope escalates, only to let down viewers. Ragini MMS 2 is no exception. Disappointing fare!
The story of the movie: After Ragini(Kainaz Motivala) escapes from the haunted house, she fails to get over the trauma and is admitted in a mental asylum. On the other hand, an eccentric filmmaker Rocks(Parvin Dabas) decides to make a film on this incident. He casts porn star turned film actor Sunny Leone(Sunny Leone) for the role of Ragini and self-obsessed TV actor Maddy(Karan Mehra) for the role of Ragini’s boyfriend Uday(Rajkummar Rao). What’s more, Rocks, at the suggestion of script writer Satya(Saahil Prem) decides to shoot in the same haunted house where the incident took place. As expected, strange things start happening with the unit members the moment they reach the haunted location.
Ragini MMS was a realistic fare and had a gripping direction and terrific performances. Few scenes did manage to give the chills. Ragini MMS 2, on the other hand, appears too filmy. Except the climax, not a single scene gives a scare as it’s too in-your-face. Also, the background score is unnecessarily added that further takes away the impact. Moreover, some fine performers like Parvin Dabas go overboard with their acts. Thirdly, the sex scenes fail to titillate much and few such sequences(Saahil-Sunny’s lovemaking scene and Sunny-Sandhya Mridul kiss) serves no purpose at all. And like it has happened in the past, hot scenes shown in the promos are not there in the film. Lastly, few questions are left unanswered, which again isn’t a good idea.
What works in the film are the sizzling Baby Doll track, the flashback of the ghost and Divya Dutta’s performance. Also, the climax did manage to grip.
There’s no doubt that Sunny Leone is sizzling hot but performance wise, she is strictly okay. But in the climax, she does prove that she can act well and even scares viewers. Pooja Bhatt had extracted a fine performance from her in Jism-2 but Ragini MMS 2 director Bhushan Patel maybe fails to do so. Saahil Prem gives a fine performance in few scenes. In the rest of the scenes, he appears too stiff. Parvin Dabas plays a loud, obnoxious character but while doing so, he goes slightly overboard and should have controlled his performance. Same goes for Karan Mehra. In couple of scenes, he tries to copy Rajkummar Rao’s act and it just doesn’t work. Sandhya Mridul(Monali) however keeps her performance in check and is impressive. Kainaz Motivala looks unrecognizable and gives a splendid performance. Divya Dutta(Dr Meera Dutta) is the hero of the film in many ways and is the only actor who gives a rock-solid performance!
Anita Hassanandani(Gina) also looks unrecognizable and does fine. Geetanjali Kulkarni(the ghost) looks every inch a Maharashtrian rural housewife and leaves a mark. Gargi Patel(Ragini’s mother), Soniya Mehra(Tanya), Karan Taluja(Kunal) and others do a good job.
There are only 3 songs in the film. Baby Doll is undoubtedly the best and gives a great start to the film. Maine Khud Ko is wasted. Chaar Botal Vodka is peppy but shouldn’t have been placed in the end credits as it seems out of place. Amar Mohile’s background score is over-the-top. Naren Gedia’s cinematography is apt. Same goes for Abbas Ali Moghul’s action. Special mention goes to Krishnakant Mishra for the VFX.
Suhani Kanwar and Tanveer Bookwala’s story is fine and could have made for a great horror flick. It does remind one of The Conjuring, but that’s a co-incidence since Ragini MMS 2 shoot had commenced by the time the Hollywood film released. Ishita Moitra’s dialogues are funny and witty. But the writing hasn’t been well-utilized by director Bhushan Patel. His first film, 1920: Evil Returns, too was strictly okay. In case of Ragini MMS 2, it didn’t seem like a sequel as the first part was gripping and looked straight out of life. Ragini MMS 2 appears too filmy and unconvincing. Someone like Vikram Bhatt manages to make great over-the-top horror films but Bhushan Patel fails to do so. The film neither scares much nor does it titillate, except in few shots. The climax is engaging, but it comes too late in the day.
On the whole, Ragini MMS 2 is a king-sized disappointment. It’s loud, unconvincing and is hardly scary or titillating. Give it a miss and watch Queen for the second/third time instead!