Ragini MMS

Ragini MMS
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Pawan Kripalani
Produced by	Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor Amit Kapoor Sidhartha M. Jain
Screenplay by	Pawan Kripalani Vaspar Dandiwala
Story by	Pawan Kripalani
Starring	Rajkummar Rao Kainaz Motivala
Music by	Shamir Tandon S D Burman Bappi Lahri Faizan Hussain, Agnel Roman
Cinematography	Tribhuvan Babu
Editing by	Pooja Ladha Surti
Distributed by	ALT Entertainment Balaji Motion Pictures iRock Films
Release dates	May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	1.3 crore[1]
Box office	9 crore

Ragini MMS is a 2011 Bollywood horror-thriller film directed by Pawan Kripalani and produced by Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms. The film revolves around the video footage of a girl named Ragini. It was released on 13 May 2011.^[2] The film is inspired by the 2007 American supernatural horror film Paranormal Activity^[3] and is partly based on the real story of a girl from Delhi named Deepika.

Plot

Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) and Uday (Rajkummar Rao) go to a secluded house, set deep inside a forest, for a weekend of fun. Upon arrival, Ragini and Uday discover worms in their bag of food, but neglect it. Uday has plans of recording a video of Ragini, without her knowledge, so that he can fulfill his dream of becoming an actor. However, they are interrupted by Ragini's friend, Piya and her boyfriend, Vishal. Vishal was told that the house belonged to a lady who was accused of being a witch, and subsequently killed by her family. However, she returned as a vengeful ghost and murdered her entire family.

After a bash of music, dance and beer, Vishal senses eeriness in the house and leaves with Piya. Uday then handcuffs Ragini to the bed. While they are kissing, Uday's hair is pulled by someone, and he realizes that there is another presence in the house. Ragini spots a camera in the room and realizes Uday's intentions. She is unable to do anything, as the key goes missing, leaving her tied to the bed. As matters worsen, Uday runs away, leaving Ragini alone in the house. The spirit does not let him escape however, and Uday returns upstairs, bruised. The ghost enters Uday's body and makes him commit suicide. Ragini struggles to unlock herself from the cuffs before sunrise. She finds the key under the bed, but fails to get it. The next night, the ghost attacks her again, but she manages to break free by cutting her hands with glass.

Ragini escapes the house and runs away, screaming for help. When she sees a car, she chases it, but finds Vishal dead inside. After trying to start the car unsuccessfully, she hides in an old well where she finds Piya's body. The ghost then grabs her and brings her back to the haunted house. The ghost tells that she is not a witch, she did not kill her children, she will not leave her house, and that she will not let others get out of her house alive. Ragini slowly rises up in the air and is slapped and thrown around by the ghost. The ghost then tries to make her commit suicide but Ragini is able to stop her and toss the weapon away. Ragini stays suspended against the wall all night. As the sun rises, she slips down to the ground, having survived and is free to escape. On-screen text reveals that after a few days, a local boy finds Ragini unconscious and takes her to the hospital. She had to go through intensive psychiatric treatment for 10 months, and then agreed to tell her story.

Cast

• Rajkummar Rao as Uday
• Kainaz Motivala as Ragini

Production

The film was originally titled Raginni MMS but a numerologist advised Ekta Kapoor to change it to Ragini MMS. The film took only 25 days to shoot.^{[citation needed]}

Release

The film had a midnight première on May 13, 2011 in Pune.^[4]

Upon release, the film met with mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave it 4/5 stars and called it a "creepy, spine-chilling date movie" saying, "Ragini MMS amalgamates components of horror, paranormal and sex seamlessly. It titillates, it petrifies, but most importantly, it tells you a story which is daunting, imaginative and unconventional."^[5] Naresh Deoshi from Apunka Choice also gave the film 4/5 stars calling it "a damn scary film!"^[6] Ankur Pathak from Rediff.com gave the film 3.5/5 stars and said "Ekta Kapoor's new film is terrifyingly real, and immensely watchable for the cold fright it inspires. She must be lauded for relying on young actors, and believing in the risky attempt of largely untouched storytelling."^[7] Nikhat Kazmi from the Times of India gave the film 3.5/5 stars as well. She said "...Ragini MMS makes a heady cocktail of sex and horror that's so very different from run-of-the-mill Bollywood."^[8] Shubha Shetty-Saha gave the film a good review of 3/5 and said "some scenes were so scary, that I actually wanted to run out of the theatre."^[9]

Mayank Shekhar from the Hindustan Times gave the film 2/5 stars,^[10] while Pankaj Sabnani from Glamsham gave the film an average review of 2.5/5 saying "Ragini MMS isn't worth 'circulating', if you have a large appetite for horror."^[11] Aniruddha Guha from DNA gave the film 2/5 saying, "Watch Ragini MMS only if you dig cheap thrills. But don’t worry about losing sleep thereafter."^[12]

The film opened to a very good response in its first week grossing 7.75 crore.^[13] It was steady during its second week and grossed 9.94 crore at the end of its second week. The film recovered its cost within two days of release.

Awards

Best Searchlight Film - Ekta Kapoor

Soundtrack

The music is composed by S. D. Burman^{[citation needed]}, Shamir Tandon, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Roman, and Bappi Lahiri. The soundtrack for the film was released on April 19, 2011. It consists of only four songs, including the hit song "Raat Akeli Hai" from the 1967 film, Jewel Thief. Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1 is also heard in pieces in this film.

Track listing

Sequel

The film's producer, Ekta Kapoor and Balaji Telefilms have announced a sequel to the film, Ragini MMS 2 which will be released in 3D. Sunny Leone has been chosen to play the lead role.^[14]

Reportedly Sunny was offered a whopping 1 Crore Indian Rupees for the role in Ragini MMS 2.^[15]

See also

• Found footage (genre)

References

External links

• Official website
• Ragini MMS at the Internet Movie Database
• Ragini MMS at Bollywood Hungama

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=ibfWafN2J2krXkdZrOAdxQ&video_id=RvmHmSL4RlY