Making a good horror movie is a tough job. Modern day digitally connected, and increasingly rational audience is notoriously demanding fresh takes at traditional horror concepts. This is also leading to fusion of genres. Ragini MMS2 is one such genre mix- horror and sex.
I know Balaji Telefilms has taken it upon them to be "bold" but a movie such as this starring a porn star in and as a porn star is questionable. The original Ragini MMS had some amount of originality- a couple unknowingly going to a haunted house to shoot a MMS and becoming the target of an evil spirit.
In a recent interview, Sunny is quoted to have said that directors approach her with scripts just to find a reason to meet her. Parvin Dabas plays one such sleazy director, who comes up with this brilliant idea of shooting a movie based on the plot of the first movie, at the same spooky house. He also wants real actors, not big stars and strangely so, he selects the one actor who has made a career out of faking it, as the lead. Rest of the plot is a lift from the recently released The Conjuring- creaky house, an angry poltergeist, possession, levitating chairs, missing children, human sacrifice, a tree hanging, the spirit embodied in an object from the past- all is been there done that category.
It is a known fact that clothes and Sunny do not like each other. So much to the satisfaction of front row whistle blowers, all throughout the movie, she features in various stages of undress. At one point, Sunny says that she wants to research for her role. To which the director pulls out an epic quote- "Porno se Rituporno kab ban gayi". In many ways, this statement sums up Sunny's real life quest for respect in the acting world. But can the audience ever stop objectifying her? Surely, not when she is thrusting out her assets at the slightest instance, and indulging in sex in the lake, in the bedroom, in the bathroom, and in the rain.
And surprisingly though, she acts pretty well, especially considering how insipidly written the other characters are. Director Bhushan Patel ensures that decent actors like Sandhya Mridul, Dabas, and Divya Dutta come out unintentionally funny. Divya Dutta is an incredible character in herself- she is a psychiatrist who moonlights as an exorcist! The crazy cinematography has ghosts appearing in almost every alternate frame, but with no sense of drama and hence leaves little impact. Even her porn movies have seen better direction. So ultimately you only get to do the guy thing and admire Leone's body.
So there it is- baby doll and bottles of vodkas notwithstanding, Ragini MM2 is generic horror, devoid of logic and scares, it is little more than an uninhibited skin show. But maybe that's something deep down in our hearts we actually wanted- 4/10
