Bollywood has its platter full this week and the all-new horrex genre (horror plus sex) is flush with cash. A total of five movies hit the theatres on Friday the 21st but none could bang the
box office like Sunny Leone-starrer
Ragini MMS 2. The sequel to the hit
horror flick Ragini MMS netted Rs 24.5 crore at home during the debut weekend while 4th day (Monday, March 24) collections stood at around Rs 4.5 crore nett at the
domestic box office, as per industry estimates.
“RaginiMMS2 Fri 8.43 cr, Sat 7.29 crore, Sun 8.78 crore. Total: Rs 24.5 crore nett. India biz,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted. In spite of a slight drop in business on the second day, this
horror erotica picked up pace and turned out to be this year’s third highest grosser over the opening weekend, after
Jai Ho (around Rs 60 crore) and
Gunday (Rs 43.9 crore). The movie has also surpassed the lifetime business of
Dedh Ishqiya (Rs 27 crore) and
Highway (Rs 27.25 crore), as per Koimoi.
Along with
Ragini MMS 2, four other movies were also released on March 21. These include
Gang of Ghosts,
Ankhon Dekhi,
Lakshmi and
Kolkata Junction. But keeping in mind how horror has flourished this week, we are focusing on just two movies today –
Ragini MMS 2 and Gang of Ghosts. We will have another ‘Box Office’ story tomorrow and bring you the rest of the three movies, along with their box office performances.
Coming to performance, let us tell you that the
horror comedy Gang of Ghosts did decently at the domestic box office and total collection after the first weekend was around Rs 14.25 crore, against a total budget of Rs 15 crore. That is not at all disheartening, taking into consideration the tough competition posed by the
Ragini sequel, which is already way ahead of its total budget of Rs 18 crore.
Although
adult movie star Sunny Leone made her Bollywood debut with
Jism 2, it is
Ragini MMS 2 that has given her the biggest break in India till date. Interestingly,
director Bhushan Patel had earlier helmed another successful horror flick –
1920: Evil Returns.
Ragini MMS 2 has been produced by
Ekta Kapoor and
Shobha Kapoor.
Now that we know the awesome numbers the movie is commanding, let us have a look at what’s selling
Ragini MMS 2. Well, that’s a kind of no-brainer in this context. A
sizzling Sunny Leone flaunting her assets throughout the movie and looking a bit more confident than usual (who wouldn’t when one is portraying her own character), and some
spooky elements craftily thrown in here and there to keep the fear factor alive are tantalising enough to be lapped up by the audience. Add to that chartbuster songs like
Baby Doll and
Chaar Botal Vodka, and you have the perfect recipe for box office success.
Unlike the prequel (
Ragini MMS) that featured a balanced mix of
horror and sex, the equation has changed this time, along with the cast, and tilted heavily towards the explicit. However, the horrex picks up from where the earlier one had left, telling us the fatal story of a movie production team that has come to the infamous haunted
haveli to make a movie on Uday and Ragini, whose earlier escapade in the house had gone awry. In fact, it won’t be a bad idea to watch
Ragini MMS once again before you watch the second in the series. Now that the leaked MMS made by Uday has gone viral, film-maker Rocks (
Parvin Dabas) decides to cash in on the scandal; ropes in Sunny as the female lead and lands at the house for the shoot. Here, Sunny seems to be at her explicit best but the bone-chilling moments are not missing altogether, in spite of their routine predictability. For instance, you will find the quintessential exorcist in
Dr Meera Dutta (
Divya Dutta), to say nothing of the usual trappings of a
paranormal thriller. Maybe erotica and a heavy dose of
quirky humour have been the saving grace of this movie, along with the terror lacing.
The other horror release of the week is
Gang of Ghosts, a photocopy adaptation of the original Bengali flick,
Bhooter Bhobishyot. Directed by
Satish Kaushik, this one tells an intriguing story of an
over-urbanised Mumbai and how the departed souls are compelled to leave their last stronghold as haunted houses are speedily turned into high-rises and multiplexes. The original one has a touching message in the guise of comedy – one can actually sense the pain of getting uprooted as your city turns too affluent to be affordable. But the
Hindi remake falls flat in spite of veterans like
Anupam Kher and
Jackie Shroff. Still, those who have not watched the original may like it enough – that could be one possible reason behind its moderate box office success.
Images: Indiatimes
