OMG! Oh My God Hindi Movie
For long Akshay Kumar has been accused of movies low on quality content. And once and for all the superstar puts all accusations to rest as he produces a film that boasts of a great script and fabulous acting! Let's see what this joint production venture of Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal is all about.
Kanji Mehta (Paresh Rawal) is an atheist, who runs an antique shop. For him, God and religion are nothing more than a business proposition as he goes ahead making money by y selling the faith of people for his profit. His life suddenly is thrown off gear as an earthquake ironically destructs only his shop in the entire area.
While all his detractors blame it on his atheism that led to God's wrath, Kanji remains unperturbed and finds his victory with the insurance scheme that he had taken. However, his happiness remains short-lived as the insurance companies too spin a scam in the name of God by slating all destruction under natural calamity as 'Act Of God'. They promptly reject the claim stating an earthquake to be an 'act of god' rather than a man-made phenomenon.
Frustrated and distraught, Kanji decides to file a case against God on the premise that if God is responsible for his loss then it is God's responsibility to compensate him for his losses. His case causes quite a stir as not only the insurance company but all the authoritarians of God (read Preists, Pujaris etc.) get dragged to court to defend God!
Whether Kanji's atheism loses its battle in front of the nations belief or he comes out victorious with his insurance money follows through the rest of the plot.
Based on a highly celebrated play Kanji Virudh Kanji (Gujarati), OMG despite having an alteration of around 50 per cent of its original screenplay is brilliantly essayed. The film may neither have the opulence of big budget sets nor superstars in main lead, even the cinematography and music are nothing to speak of but in spite of that, the film starts gripping you within a few minutes keeps you glued right till the end leaving you teary eyed yet smiling all along.
The film purely stands on two strong pillars - the story and acting, testifying once again that all you need is a good script. Umesh Shukla who also directed the original play debuts with this film and puts all his theater experience in making an honest film. He brings about a fair balance between atheism and faith without getting preachy. In its own humorous and satirical manner it conveys a strong message and makes you question the blind faith eating up the nation.
Umesh uses the star power of Akshay Kumar perfectly well as he ropes him in as God. Akshay's enactment of a modern day God Krishna Vasudev Yadav, riding a hot mobike and using modern gadgets is never for once caricaturish. Instead Akshay's acting prowess only makes the character more believable. Paresh Rawal on the other hand essays his part as if it were a cake walk. Although, repeated portrayals of the character in the original play would've seasoned Paresh but in the film too he delivers a crackling performance. What comes as a surprise is the portrayal of an effiminate, long haired Swami by Mithun Chakravorthy who gives a laudable performance.
The film only scores negatives points for its poor production values, needless insertion of the Prabhu Deva - Sonakshi Sinha song which could well be used just for promotions and its length. Music by Himesh Reshammiya is uninspiring.
To sum it up, OMG Oh My God is an honest film with a strong message which should be encouraged and seen especially for the brilliance of its script and the delightful acting of Paresh Rawal!
