~ MY 500TH REVIEW!~
We are fortunate to live in India and following Bollywood. After all, we have the option to watch various kinds of films – from something as sensible as Queen and Highway to convincing, entertaining over the masala entertainers like Rowdy Rathore and Dabangg and to something as atrocious but entertaining as Gunda and Deshdrohi. MSG – The Messenger falls in the final category obviously. And as lovers of trashy films would know, such films can also give a high and satisfaction. In that regard, MSG – The Messenger is complete paisa vasool trash!
The story of the movie: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan(Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan) is the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, a socio-spiritual organization which has its base in Sirsa, Haryana. He has 5 crore followers in the world and is indulged in various welfare activities. His drive against drug addiction has been very successful and hence, the people in the drug business consider Guru ji a threat. At a meeting of drug dealers of the world at Australia, it is decided that Guru ji should be killed and Mike is sent to do the needful. Meanwhile, Alice(Olexandra Semen) is a foreign journalist who decides to stay in Guru ji’s ashram after he permits her to make a documentary on him. In the ashram, she befriends the two ashram residents, Muskan(Flora Saini) and Kasam(Jayshree Soni). Meanwhile, Mike reaches India and is all set to assassinate Guru ji.
The censor certificate of MSG – The Messenger lists the length of the film as 197 minutes. Thankfully, it’s not and lasts for around 175 minutes. The opening titles are interestingly put together. But all the impression goes down the drain as soon as the Guru ji makes an entry in the terrible ‘Never Ever’ song. It gets worse with the scene of the drug dealer’s meeting in Australia. The makers had all the money at their disposal, which is evident from the lavish scale at which the film is made and mounted. Yet, they didn’t go to Australia to shoot the drug dealer’s scene. The result – tacky VFX job as the meeting room ‘overlooks’ the Sydney Harbour. That’s not all. There’s another scene of the meeting of a certain Don and Mike in a yacht which is ‘floating off’ the Sydney harbor. It is laughable. Meanwhile, the drama soon shifts back to Sirsa as Guru ji is shown dancing and making merry. Soon, it’s time for the first action scene and it sets the mood of the film and how. One has to see it as Guru ji sitting in his outlandish car many kilometers away is able to suddenly install an invisible electric fence so that goons can’t enter the ashram! And the manner in which he jumps into the ashram over a 15 feet wall using 2 poles will put biggest pole vault players to shame. He even has the power to transform swords and gun into rose petals and what not. In short, he is invincible. In fact, throughout the film, he never suffers any challenge or problem. And the villains are presented as a bunch of fools and definitely are no match to Guru ji. Especially Mike who is shown as a sexy assassin(his weapon is a Quidditch ball, btw!) but all his plans are so stupid that Guru ji would have defeated him even without his powers! There is a closet villain in the film who is revealed only in the end. And I must admit, this part of the film did engage me and I constantly wondered who would be that ‘dhokebaaz’. But in the end, that person has a change of heart too quickly and hence looked stupid. And the review won’t be complete without a talk about the climax. Guru ji’s stunt at this point is legendary. How the makers came up with such stuff, man! Hats off!
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan has a screen presence but one can’t help but take him seriously because of his gaudy costume and the kind of stuff that he does in the films. Even his vehicles are showy. And he drives/ride everything in the film from unusually designed cars to three-wheeler to an airplane to a cycle to even the scooter bike! The three heroines - Olexandra Semen, Flora Saini and Jayshree Soni – are quite decent. The villains are bad and act like buffoons when they should have exuded fear or vengeance. The actor playing Deepak(who is born with the only aim of live telecasting Guru ji’s programme Rubaru Nights) is terrible.
Songs composed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan himself are out of tune, except ‘Raatan Baatan’. And there are too many songs, added just for the heck of it. For instance, ‘Raatan Baatan’ song ends and it gives way to a 1-minute long dramatic scene wherein Guru ji saves a tricolor. Suddenly, he realizes that he’s patriotic as well and hence starts singing ‘Desh’! So there are 2 songs almost back to back! However, Amar Mohile’s background score is exhilarating. Direction(Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan and Jeetu Arora Insan) is amateurish. Surely, their aim is good and it’s nice to know that Guru ji does so much social work and has helped patients, old-aged people, handicapped people, prostitutes etc and provided them with a life of dignity. But the impact gets diluted thanks to the over the top and outrageous stuff that happens in the film. Also, the only aim of the film is to glorify Guru ji. So whatever he does, his followers get happy. For instance, Guru ji sits on a cycle and starts riding and his followers start clapping and celebrating! Like, really?! Another instance – Alice asks for a permission of Guru ji to film a documentary. The moment he nods in agreement, Alice gets soooooo happy as if she invested money in a Nigerian scam and instead of getting duped, she earned crores of rupees. Moreover, the humour element just doesn’t work. Gaurav Gera’s antics are anything but funny. And one of the villains in the film is Chillum and he runs news channel called ‘Chillum TV’. If all this is added to make us laugh, then sorry boss, it failed big time!
On the whole, MSG – The Messenger as expected is a poor show all the way. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan disappoints as actor, co-director, music director, lyricist, writer, co-cinematographer, co-art director, co-choreographer and co-action director! However, for lovers of trashy films, this one is a cult classic and something that deserves to remembered and revered for years! The makers, it seems, have done massive block bookings in PVR and Cinemax cinemas and hence you might not get tickets in their properties. The rest of the theatres are going empty. Go for it before it’s out! And needless to say, eagerly waiting for its sequel, which reportedly is already 80% complete!