'Ragini MMS' (Hindi, Horror)
Director: Pavan Kriplani
Cast: Kainaaz Motiwala, Raj Kumar Yadav
In 'Ragini MMS', a young couple head off to an abandoned bungalow on the outskirts of the city so they can finally have some privacy and do the nasty. Uday (played by 'Love Sex Aur Dhokha's Raj Kumar Yadav) has previously arranged to have every corner of the house rigged with video cameras so he can secretly film his steamy encounter with Ragini (played by Kainaz Motivala) and hand over the footage to a shady producer who has promised him a film role in return.
By the time he's able to shoo away her friends who dropped in for a surprise visit, Uday can barely keep it in his pants any longer. The couple retires to the upstairs bedroom and just as things start to get hot and heavy, an angry spirit decides to make its presence felt.
Director Pavan Kriplani relies on familiar tropes to deliver plenty jump-in-your seat moments, but he disregards the genre's most important rule - don't show the ghost; what you don't see is always more scary. But because he does show the ghost - and so many times in fact - much of the thrill of watching this film is diluted.
The movie benefits from an inspired performance by Raj Kumar Yadav as the short-fused, profanity-spouting cad who's desperate to exploit his shy but eager-to-please girlfriend. Borrowing visual references generously from previous hits like 'Paranormal Activity', 'The Blair Witch Project' and so many Ramgopal Varma offerings, 'Ragini MMS' delivers very little in terms of novelty.
Still, in constructing a story around sex and scares, the makers of this film adopt Hollywood's foolproof B-movie formula and come up with a watchable but ultimately over-long adult movie.