Oh My God! Archives - White Guy Watches Bollywood

Hindi Movie Review: OMG 2 falters in adapting the original scenario to a fit new social issue

The GuySeptember 4, 2023No Comments

The first Oh My God!, released in 2012, was a flawed film with an intriguing high concept, adapted from the Gujarati stage play Kanji Virudh Kanji and its inspiration, the Australian film The Man Who Sued God. The premise: With the earthquake that destroyed his shop deemed an “Act of God,” atheist Kanji Lalji Mehta seeks to take the responsible party – in this case, the Lord himself – to court. This evolves into a clever morality play that sees Kanji going after the self-anointed religious officers in society who collect donations only to enrich themselves, rather than serve the will of God and help others. While the setup of Oh My God! was better than its execution, which took the story into heavy-handed and obvious directions, it had a thought-provoking central idea relating to organized religion’s role in upholding justness. Looking back, it’s no surprise that such an ingenious, easily articulated concept that hit at the zeitgeist yielded big box office returns.

Oh My God! was clearly intended to be a self-contained story, so it’s hardly a surprise that its connection to this decade-later sequel feels awkward at best. The only common ingredient between the two films is Akshay Kumar, who reprises his role as a divine messenger – this time as a manifestation of Shiva, while last time it was Krishna. But even this part of the sequel feels like it has been shoehorned in. Whereas Kumar came across as a true spiritual guide to Kanji in the first film, offering divine counsel in urging him to read the Gita, Bible, and Quran for answers to his predicament, here he takes on more of the role of a “fairy godfather,” providing convenient solutions for protagonist Kanti Sharan Mudgal (Pankaj Tripathi) whenever he reaches a seemingly unsurmountable obstacle. As such, the franchise’s entire notion of spiritual devotion becomes muddled; whereas the first film ultimately extolled the virtues of unconditional belief in God, here it would seem the takeaway is you only need Him when you’re in a pinch. And this is only the beginning of the story’s thematic confusion.

>> Click Here to Continue Reading >>

Now Streaming (A-Z)

Processes	Intended to make the Website work in the way you expect. For example, we use a cookie that tells us whether you have already signed up for a User Account.
Authentication, Security and Compliance	Intended to prevent fraud, protect your data from unauthorized parties, and comply with legal requirements. For example, we use cookies to determine if you are logged in your User Account.
Preferences	Intended to remember information about how you prefer the services to behave and look. For example, we use a cookie that tells us whether you have declined to allow us to use your phone’s geolocation data.
Notifications	Intended to allow or prevent notices of information or options that we think could improve your use of the Service. For example, we use a Cookie that stops us from showing you the signup notification if you have already seen it.
Analytics	Intended to help us understand how visitors use the services. For example, we use a Cookie that tells us how our search suggestions correlate with your interactions with the search page.