MSG: The Messenger

MSG: The Messenger
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Jeetu Arora
Produced by	Hakikat Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Written by	Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh
Starring	Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Daniel Kaleb Flora Saini Jayshree Soni Olexandra Semen Gaurav Gera Jay Singh Rajpoot Raju Pandit
Music by	Songs: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Background Score: Amar Mohile
Cinematography	Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Vineet Sapru Mangal
Edited by	Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Sanjay Kumar Singh
Production company	Hakikat Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Distributed by	Hakikat Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Release dates	13 February 2015 (2015-02-13)
Running time	197 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹300 million[1]
Box office	Disputed[2][1][3][4]

MSG: The Messenger (also known as MSG: The Messenger of God) is an Indian action and drama film directed by religious leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Jeetu Arora.^[1] The film stars Singh, who also does his own stunts. The movie contains situations involving youth-related issues like drug abuse, alcoholism, etc.^[5] Apart from acting and directing, Gurmeet composed and sang all the songs, worked as lyricist, script writer, cinematographer and editor respectively. The film was released worldwide in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.^[6][7] The film has received negative reviews from critics.^[8] Some box office estimates indicate the film grossed approximately ₹16.65 crore (US$2.5 million) on a budget of ₹30 crore (US$4.5 million),^[9] though this is in conflict with the producers' statements that the film grossed ₹126 crore (US$19 million).^[3]

Synopsis

Guru ji (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh) is a spiritual leader who has a huge follower base. He has accepted the challenge of eradicating social evils including drugs and gender-related issues that have been prevailing in the society. Those with vested interests and apathetic towards the welfare of the society are now disturbed as there's someone who has taken control of the situation. They conspire to kill him.^[10]

Cast

• Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as Guruji
• Daniel Kaleb as Mike
• Flora Saini as Muskan
• Jayshree Soni as Kasam
• Olexandra Semen as Alice
• Gaurav Gera as Bhondu
• Jay Singh Rajpoot as Jet Bhai
• Himanshu Tiwari as Tiwari Don
• Raju Pandit as Khurana

Production

The film was shot at various locations of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. The movie also features 1 million, three hundred-thousand extras. The film was completed in 67 days. The cast had almost no training in film or acting. For the song 'Never Ever' about 125,000 performers continued their shot for three days, and on a count of three, 70 thousand candles were lit within 45 seconds.^[11] Singh held a three-day concert at the Shah Satnam Ji Stadium in Sirsa, Haryana, from 16 August, which is part of the movie.

Certification

The film was denied a release certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification and was sent to a revising committee. The members of the Central Board of Film Certification objected to the portrayal of Singh as a God in the movie.^[12] On 15 January 2015 the film was cleared for screening by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. Singh denied that he had called himself God in the film (at the time the film was titled, MSG: Messenger of God). He further added that there was nothing objectionable in his film and that the Central Board of Film Certification had muted just two words.^[13] Punjab and Haryana High Court also allowed the release of the film.^[14] The film was fully cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification with a U Certificate and released on 13 February 2015.^[15]

Premiere

The trailer of the film was released on 19 December 2014 and crossed over 1 million views on YouTube within 24 hours.^[16] On 16 January 2015, MSG: The Messenger premiered at Leisure Valley ground, a large park in Gurgaon city used for exhibitions and conventions. A team from Asia Book and India Book of Records recorded the official number of people gathered as 157,231 for the promotion.^[17]

Reception

Critical reception

Criticism focused on the self-aggrandizing nature of the film. Raja Sen, writing for Rediff, refused to rate the movie. "This is not a movie," he said. He described the film as a "propaganda piece" for "self-styled spiritual leader" Singh, and stated that the film "might be a theatrical release, but this can, by no means, be called a piece of cinema."^[18] The Indian Express described the film as "excruciatingly awful only for non believers."^[19] DNA called the film "three hours of torture so painful that you start laughing at yourself".^[20]

Rohit Vats reviewing for Hindustan Times urged readers to "watch it only if your survival depended on it".^[21] Bollywood Hungama stated that "the film can be watched once only for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan."^[22] Times of India rated it one out of five stars, commenting that "the one star is strictly for Babaji's intriguing choice of outfits. A multi-coloured crochet two-piece (tight tees and knee-length pants) takes the cake."^[23]

Box office

The box office gross of the movie has been contested. Bollywood Hungama, Box Office India, and other industry sources reported figures as low as ₹10 crore (US$1.5 million), while sources associated with the film reported results as high as ₹120 crore (US$18 million).^{[1][3][24][4]}

A report by the Business Standard gave tentative opening day figures of ₹2.5 crore (US$370,000), citing the limited appeal to non-believers, distribution to less expensive theatres, and competition from Roy as reasons for the relatively weak opening. The 2015 Cricket World Cup, which kicked off the following day, was also expected to detract from later ticket sales.^[25]

Protests

Various Sikh groups protested the release of the movie and demanded that it be banned on the basis that it was offensive to Sikhs.^[26][27][28] However, a Dera Sacha Sauda spokesperson downplayed the protest, commenting, "There is nothing against which the protests need to be done."^[26]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, and a sequence of the movie takes place as a live concert. The soundtrack album consists of 7 songs, all written and sung by Singh, himself.^[30][31]

Track listing

Sequel

A sequel, MSG-2 The Messenger, was released on 18 September 2015.^[36]

References

External links

• Official website
• MSG: The Messenger at the Internet Movie Database
• MSG: The Messenger of God at Rotten Tomatoes