Review: MSG2- The Messenger is not a film but an advertisement of Saint Gurmeet Singh Ji Insan

Rating- 1/2

MSG 2 – The Messenger (the ‘M’ in MSG stands for Messenger too) is a sequel of the first movie of Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan (GRRSI). The first movie portrayed him as a social reformer for eradication of social evils and protecting the environment. The sequel on the other hand, deals with civilization and transformation of the tribals.

MSG 2 is an Indian action film directed by GRRSI and Jeetu Arora. Rest all- acting, music composition, song writing, singing, actions, editing costume designing and probably everything else is done by GRRSI himself? Phew! Now is that why he could come up with two films in less than 7 months?

First comes first- the controversies surrounding this film. The film shows GRRSI having miraculous powers showing him to enter people’s dreams and solve their problems. Second, he is shown to promote vegetarianism, which is fine so long as it is his own view and there are no strings attached. On one hand, the film shows disclaimers of it being fictional in nature and on the other, the film proclaims to be based on real life incidents. As if the crowd that watches GRRSI films reads and understands his disclaimers? Anyways, a few states including Jharkhand, Punjab and Chattisgarh have banned the film. Also, there was a petition in the Delhi High Court to ban the film for calling Adivasis anti-nationals; however the petition has been rejected.

Coming to the film, well…do I really want to come there? It’s one of the crudest films ever made with bad visual effects, equally bad writing and songs (which may seem like remixes of earlier heard Bollywood songs). GRRSI performs a lot of unbelievable stunts in this film. Thanks to the poor visual effects, you end up feeling worse about the film. There is no story and the plot lacks substance, as a corrupt bigwig, manipulates the police, ministers and the defense forces to eliminate adivasis. What follows is the inevitable, how GRRSI saves them and transforms them.

On the technical front, the film may have a massive production budget, which can be seen from the self-designed cars, the huge ensemble of people and some animated animals. GRRSI’s stone and mirror studded clothes are complemented with a matching headgear with MSG marked on it. What a show of opulence!

The background score oscillates between ‘Dhan, dhan sat guru tera hi aasara’ which is the slogan of Dera Sacha Sauda, a sect headed by GRRSI. If you watch this in a theatre (which I strictly warn you against), you may hear some of his followers humming along with.

With the film giving out details about the social causes which GRRSI supports like the disaster relief fund, the film is more of an advertisement than anything else.

I was in Gurgaon watching a crowd of 50,000 odd people at the premiere of MSG2 from a window. I was shocked in exasperation to see such a huge turnout for this film. Makes me wonder the reason of GRRSI’s huge fan following? If you’re one of them, you can watch the film because in all likelihood your funds may have been used to make this film. If you’re an outsider to the GRRSI world, don’t even watch the trailer!

-Reviewed by Dolly Bolly