Horrex: a portmanteau of horror and sex, is the genre of Czarina Ekta Kapoor’s bold, raunchy and spooky web tale, Ragini MMS Returns on AltBalaji, the OTT platform.
Here too, s*x is the main stay for even the ghost threatens to kill her victims if they get laid. Poor newlywed Nishant Malkani can’t sleep with his desperate wife (Riya Sen) as he knows his life is on the line as one of his friends was killed after he ignored the ghost’s warning. Nishant acts well as the scared guy.
The scene then shifts to a Riverdale like college dorm, where Ragini aka Karishma Sharma (student) and mom Delnaaz Irani (lecturer) move in. She is scared by the college gang, but ends up seeing the real red sari clad evil spirit. Karishma performs well as the modern carefree gal (smoking, drinking and make out) and also brings out the fear/ confusion as the solo figure who can see the ghost.
The creatives have openly showed girl locker talk which is explicit. Football jock lead guy (Siddharth Gupta), who had once casually made out with one of the college babes Sonia (Katie Iqbal), is now smitten by Ragini. But the above girl can’t get over him and even sleeps with the college ass as a means to blow steam. She also gets a CD which shows Ragini in action with another guy. There is liberal use of love making scenes, skin show and use of cuss words.
However, the best part is that Ekta and company has not been hypocritical and has not tried to sell s*x under the garb of ‘script demands’. Ragini MMS Returns has played on the bold quotient right from the onset.
The horror elements and build up are intriguing, like Aalia’s murder, but when it’s horror and having seen a film like Conjuring, the ‘chills’ expectations always hit the ceiling.
The actor, who plays the peon and keeps warning all to stay away from the haunted room, does a good job of showing rank fear in his eyes.
The sole glitch which pops its head out on & off is that sometimes the s*x part overtakes the horror element. The unfolding of the supernatural terror is a bit slow. We need to understand gennext is very impatient and some might want more horror, apart from just sex. But yes, there is enough hook points in every episode to make you want to binge watch all six. Interestingly, AltBalaji has made the finale episode paid, smart way to make you pay for subscription.
The show has all the correct cinematographic and sound elements of classic horror. There is less use of actual horror, but the fear is palpable, another plus for us. Performance by Siddharth is watchable, he is yet to cover quite a distance.
Brand Ragini followers will not be disappointed with this effort. It’s a definite fillip for desi OTT content. We rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
