Review: OMG Oh My God!

Movie- OMG Oh My God!

Language- Hindi

Director- Umesh Shukla

Cast- Paresh Rawal, Akshay kumar, Mithun Chakraborthy... and others.

Why do we watch movies ? yes of course for entertainment. But is it for entertainment alone that movies are made, don't movies reflect social realities, sometimes they go on to win  the national awards, but do we get to see them, do they actually get their due credit, do they also succeed at box office. So how about a social message in a movie, are we ready to accept them, or do we discard them like the tickets we usually litter outside the theater. 

So what if the medicine is laced with honey and given to you, where our matinee idol Akshay kumar has to play God in order to get in the crowd, where Prabu deva with oomph given by Sonakshi has to dance for an item number. But, does the crowd in theater means that the movie is good, (ha ha) not every time my friend, may be it is for the producer. The victory of the movie is that, when we think about it afterwards, it travels with us, we ponder over it, it lingers in our memory, tries to change our perception of something which cannot be changed, questions the long established traditions,can a movie really do that ?

May be they can, may be they cannot(it can never be proved), the success of the director in this case lies in making at least an individual, take away the message from the movie. These kind of movies are hard to come by. And sadly they sink soon without trace, but the actual fact is that, people who have watched it cannot forget it, may be never, it leaves an imprint forever. Oh My God is one such Gem of a movie coming from the trash( Yeah most of the time!) of the Bollywood  It takes guts to bring about a movie of this kind, where even mention of religion stirs up some obscure organisations ire. 

It is of course not a comedy movie as mentioned in most places, yeah could be called a satire, but for me it uses comedy as a medium to take a wonderful message to the people. And confining it to the comedy genre is a disgrace done to the movie, and to the makers and even the GOD( YEAH!). It is a social movie, where our protagonist Kanji lalji mehta( played brilliantly by versatile Paresh Rawal), takes the God to court, and in process questions the so called representatives of God( Self declared swamis) and shakes the faith of people, also teaches them( us ) a lesson or two.

This movie was a stage play(Kanji Virudh Kanji)in Gujarati  where Paresh Rawal played the lead, it was good sense from the director to bring the play to a larger audience, kudos to the producers(Akshay and Paresh) too. Kanji lalji is a middle class shrewd business man, who sells artifacts especially idols of gods for a living. Sadly in an Earthquake( of 3.5 Richter!) , only our kanji's shop gets destructed.

When everyone cries, kanji with his head held high visits our insurance guy( These poor people are always either shown as dumb, stupid and the villain, sad creatures!). Who says earthquake is an act of God, which sets of our Kanji to court to sue Mr.God. Hence in process creates a storm, hurting businesses of our swamis( played with a hideous wig by mithun da! reminded me of someone very familiar!). And God descends(Akki in a Golden chopper! YAY!), and what happens to the case, to Kanji, to the hideous wig swamiji, does he become a believer or does he  succeeds in making us an atheist like him, or so forms rest of the story.

Plot wise there is not much of a suspense, we all know what will happen in the end. But hold, though the ending is somewhat predictable, but still there is some surprise element present. The dialogues are wonderful, and in many a places deserves applause. Not much to note about camera work, it was pretty decent. Editing was good, makes the journey of the movie peaceful. Himesh( Yeh the same cap guy!) deserves praise( Seriously!)  the background score is really good and songs too are not too jarring and helps keeping the mood of the movie. It also questions other faiths(like Islam, Christianity and see the movie to know WHY!), though the titular fight is between Krishna and kanji.

The lesson derived from the movie is not new, time and again some great people are born to teach us, lead us in better path, but in the end their teaching becomes obscure, and gets lost in history(But remembered by poor souls who prepare for competitive exams, sad creatures!). As said in the movie every faith tells the same, Gita, Quran, Bible, serve the man, God can be found anywhere and everywhere, let alone in temple.

The gravity of the message is too big, even great leaders have not succeeded in changing the people, you can ask what can this small movie can do. Well it acts as reminder, a wake up call to many. Some may take it home, some may leave it, but in the end it is a wholehearted effort from the team, raising a very sensitive but very relevant and much debated issue. And it is certainly not about having no belief in god, it is about having faith in humanity, which lets us become the God we are and also the monster( we are).

Cons: The Item song could have been avoided( Though Sonakshi looked hot!). Introduction scene involving Akshay was overdone, the graphics was poor, could have been little realistic. Hideous wig of Mithun chakraborthy creates nightmare. The character of the swamis look cliched. Looks Bollywoodish, little more realistic, would have enabled connection with the character. Actually we don't really feel sorry for the Kanji's loss of his shop, little more character development would have added more weight. The heart of the movie is in right place but it has erratic beating.

Pros: The cons were just minor hiccups, which in no way affect the message of the movie, and is delivered Crystal clear. Also it is not a preachy kind of movie, which we all hate, it does not stuff the message down our throat, it just establishes the facts as it is, it does not even degrade any religion or questions the base, it just questions the interpreters of those faiths, it is like a buffet meal, we can take what ever we like, either the message(Main course), the comedy in it( the Dessert), or else even Sonakshi( the Starter). Well done movie, and does not lag or bore you at any point. The comic scenes are also well done. Paresh has once again given a excellent performance. Akshay plays subtle and often smiles a lot( Yeah! after a point it gave me creeps).  

Overall: Watch it for heavens sake! May be you change for better. Only once in a while we get to see these kind of movies, do support them and do watch it with your whole family, it will be lapped up by everyone. 

God Help us all!!!

P.S: Well if you think you still don't believe in God, trust me God exists( OH! its not Akki!), It's the one who  wrote this piece and the one who is reading it now( ha ha! I was just kidding). 

P.P.S: Do we still go to temple, do we still believe in the swamis, do the channels rake in crores, what has changed, NOTHING. May be we change for better. Could someone tell me where the NUKES are!