Yahoo! Movies Review: OMG Oh My God! [3/5]

Cast: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty

Direction: Umesh Shukla

Rating: ***

Umesh Shukla’s film, ‘OMG — Oh My God!’ is a well-intentioned film but
the execution could have been better. Shukla very competently
succeeds in conveying the message that God has been reduced to mere
symbolism in the modern world. Inspired by a Gujarati play, the plot is simple. Kanji Bhai (Paresh Rawal)
is an atheist who owns an antique shop, he manages to cash in on the
gullibility of blind believers to make a few extra bucks on the sale of
their favourite deities. All is good till one day; the Gods decide to
destroy only Kanji’s antique shop after an earthquake. Even his
insurance claim is rejected because of the “act of God” clause, which basically means since there was no theft, fire or fraud, there is no
coverage for a victim of a quake or tsunami. When Kanji bhai’s
livelihood is at stake, he decides to sue God and claim compensation
either from the various Godmen (who evidently run a lucrative
business) or the insurance agency. Umesh Shukla tries to avoid Bollywood clichés by completely avoiding
the romantic angle. There’s the “Govinda” item song thrown in which
doesn’t disrupt the narrative in any way and is in fact, the only relief in
the first half which seems to drag after a point. The film definitely picks
up pace after God aka Krishna Vasudev Yadav (Akshay Kumar) makes
an appearance. Kanji Bhai also seems more convincing in the second- half when he justifies his case against God on a television chat show. Of the supporting cast, Mithun Chakraborty proves that he is still good
at his game. I am completely against blatant stereotyping of gay
characters in Bollywood films but Mithun is spot on as the slightly
effeminate Swamiji. His mannerisms and silent looks say much more
than the preachy dialoguebaazi. He makes two of the most important
facts about religion; religion is the opium of the masses and as a society we did rather be God-fearing than God-loving. Our entire belief
and practice system seems to be based more on fear and less on faith. What prevents this movie from becoming brilliant is the uneven plot
trajectory. While some of the dialogues and scenes are really well-
written, the first half suffers from being overtly preachy in parts. Also,
it is not quite clear whether Kanji Bhai is actually an atheist or is he
only against the corrupt practices that plague religion. And truth be
said Akshay Kumar’s character doesn’t really contribute to the story more than a few more preach-worthy lines. However, Umesh Shukla should be applauded for making a film that is
noble at heart and makes quite a few valid points that are sure to
resonate with not only the youth but a lot of us who blindly follow
religious practices without logic.

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