Ragini MMS in Hindi, Telugu

Ekta Kapoor’s paranormal romantic thriller, Ragini MMS, is being filmed simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu.

Ekta Kapoor’s paranormal romantic thriller, after the path breaking

HT Image

Love Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD)

,

Ragini MMS

, is being filmed simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu. Director Pawan Kriplani is confident of wrapping up both films in 20 days flat. “We had around four months of pre-production workshops that helped the actors get into character and the technicians get their cues right,” he informs. “A Telugu translator has also been working with Raj Kumar, Kainaz (Motivala) and the rest of the cast, helping them with their lines and dialogue delivery. Fortunately, Telugu is an easier language to pick up than Tamil or Malayalam. Our homework’s been thorough and after a 100-odd rehearsals, shooting is a breeze.”

Was Kriplani influenced by Ram Gopal Varma whose

Rakta Charitra I

and

II

recently released in three languages — Hindi, Tamil and Telugu? Says Kriplani, “RGV is a fantastic filmmaker and I’ve seen all his movies, including

Shiva

,

Drohi

and

Raat

that had both Hindi and Telugu versions. But he wasn’t the inspiration behind this move. It was the fact that both the Hindi and Telugu markets are huge and open to new story ideas. And this was one way to give our small budget movie a bigger scale.”

Prod him on comparisons with

LSD

and he protests, “Hey,

LSD

is in a league of its own. Except for the format and technique used, there are no similarities.”