Ragini MMS- Damn scary but weak story lets it down. Review on Ragini MMS

Star-Cast: Raj Kumar Yadav, Kainaz Motivala

Director: Pawan Kripalani

Music Director: S D Burman, Shamir Tandon, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Boman, Bappi Lahiri

Producer: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor

Genre: Horror

Singers: Asha Bhosle, Raaj, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Boman, Bappi Lahiri, Shweta Shetty,

Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri, Virag Mishra, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Boman, Indeevar,

Music Director: S D Burman, Shamir Tandon, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Boman, Bappi Lahiri,

Cinematography: Tribhuvan Babu

From the promos, I could gauge that Ragini MMS was an indianized version of'Paranormal Activity'. Club that with a true story of an MMS scandal that happened a couple of years ago and you get a story which was turned into a decent enough movie with some clever direction, good cinematography, stupendous

background score, a good looking actress and a supposedly haunted Farmhouse.

Uday and Ragini want to have some fun over the weekend and thus escape to a friend's farmhouse which is away from the city. Uday(without the knowledge of Ragini) had installed cameras throughout the house to record their romp over the night so that they can have a film made on it but little did he know that apart from the cameras they were being watched by someone else or rather something else who supposedly owned that house since a really long time. Initially they are not aware of anything, then they get frustrated when a couple of friends come and start partying but once the friends leave, strange things start to happen and things get scarier and the couple face the wrath of staying in that haunted house. The movie is all about what happens to the couple that night and the following night as they are not able to escape from the house during the day(You need to watch the movie to know why)

First things first- It makes perfect business sense to make low budget movies, rope in some new actors/Directors(dare I say bold) and do some experimentation with cinema. Kudos to Ekta Kapoor for coming up with the concept and the movie. The film indutry needs to be more creative and innovative when it comes to movie making(never mind the odd failures). This will give us a much needed break from conventional cinema.

I would not say it is an outrightly great movie, but it can certainly be watched once, for the steamy scenes, bloodcurdling background scores etc. The anticipation of what happens next will scare the sh** out of you. The Director should get a lot of credit for this and so should the the folks who gave the background score. The cinematography is spot on. The lead actors also perform a decent job but the role of Kainaz is much more substantial and thought out. She does not disappoint either- Be it in her acting or the oomph factor that she lends to the film. Music is also good with old 70s songs being played throughout the duration of the movie.

The thing that lets the movie down is the weak storyline. A better story could have made it a great movie rather than just a good weekend watch. The encounter with the ghost is much less and the makers depend on our anticipation and the background score to create the chilling effect. Could have done with

a few more scenes with the spirit!

I would go with 3.5/5 for this movie and eagarly wait for other film-makers to come up with such innovative films.