An unsatisfactory film that could have changed lives with it's story!
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar
Director: Umesh Shukla
Rating: 1 / 5
Thumbs up: Paresh Rawal's fanta-bulous acting, Akshay Kumar’s designer clothes and peacock blue accessories, Mithun da’s portrayal of a popular spiritual leader
Thumbs down: Slow story line, bad dialogues, constant background clapping like in a soap-opera
Ashvini Yaridi and Akshay Kumar - as producers, churn out a promising plot into an epic melodrama-cum-comedy saga that is as uninteresting as can be. Sequences that could have changed the mind-set of Indian audiences when it comes to 'Dharma’'and 'Karma', have come out as lessons for moral science, throughout the movie.
Paresh Rawal carries the burden of what could have been a marvelous plot, all alone! Akshay Kumar dawns a lovely avatar to ogle at on-screen. But somewhere between Prabhu Deva’s bone-breaking moves in 'Go Go Govinda' and Mithun Chakraborty’s outstanding performance as the spoof of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – two fabulous parts of the film, the story falls flat.
'OMG – Oh My God' is a sales pitch for the Bhagvad Gita. When the film is done advertising for Godrej safes in the first half and Café Coffee Day and ABP News in the second half - it begins to propagate the Gita. With no humour left to offer, the first one hour takes you through establishing who Paresh Rawal (Kanjibhai) is and what he plans to do (something we have all seen in the trailers) – take God (Akshay Kumar) to court.
The second half picks up with the introduction of sub-plots, bringing to the limelight issues of news-worthiness like insurance companies rejecting claims on the basis of 'Act of God'. The film manages to refute the wastage of resources on building temples and other donations people make blinded by uncontrolled devotion.
'Krishan v/s Kanhaiya' is a play many might have heard about, but a handful might have seen. 'OMG', inspite of being an adaptation having to follow the fame of that legendary play, does not match up to basic expectations or standards. Paresh Rawal is magnanimous as the stingy, realistic and logical shopkeeper. But a nagging sense of "below par" seems to be tagging throughout this film!
The relationship that Akshay Kumar as the modern ‘biker-cum-tech savvy’ Krishna builds with his Nasthik (Atheist) Paresh Rawal - forms the most beautiful part of the film.
There are distinct scenes in the film that are badly edited. The blue-ish effect when 'God' makes his presence felt, with the Mumbai sea-link in the background is atrocious!
Despite having a long and commendable list of singers including Himesh Reshamiya, Shreya Ghoshal and Kailash Kher the only two prominent songs in the film are a pass and go! The lyrics are instantly forgettable and the background score by Amar Mohile is as ordinary as Bollywood can offer - a major low key in the film!
The film’s biggest drawback is its preachy dialogue sequences written by writer-director, Umesh Shukla. He fails to tell a creative story in an engaging fashion. For instance a dialogue like this that God tells bhakt, “Bhagwan tumhara baap nahin, tumhara dost hain!”
Like OMG! Unfriend. Bye.
Spoiler Alert
The sequence in the second half of the film where Paresh Rawal in a ‘coma’ communicates with Lord Krishna is a definite lift off from the Hollywood TV series like ‘One Tree Hill’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and countless others. It shows how a person is in a space, between Earth and Heaven and looks back as to what is happening with his loved ones in reality. In our case, Paresh Rawal rests in a hospital and Akshay Kumar shows him what is happening while he is missing from the world!
This may seem like a novel film making technique in Bollywood and unusual in comparison to previous God-related films like 'Chamatkar, 'God Tussi Great Ho' and 'Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!'
But hello, wake up B-town and smell the coffee, this has been a trend in Hollywood since decades! OMG – Oh! So Cliché!
Verdict: A one-time watch with family!