OMG – Oh My God!

Plot

Kanji Lalji Mehta (Paresh Rawal), a middle-class atheist Hindu owns a shop of Hindu idols and antiques in Mumbai. He is cursed by Siddheshwar Maharaj when he stopped his son from playing dahi handi. A low-intensity earthquake hits the city, and Kanji's shop is the only shop that is destroyed.

Next day at the insurance office, Kanji and his neighbour-assistant Mahadev learn that the disaster claim does not cover any damage caused by natural calamities classified under "Act of God". Running out of options, Kanji decides to file a lawsuit against God but fails to find a lawyer for such a lawsuit. Finally, he meets Hanif Qureshi (Om Puri) and his daughter (Puja Gupta), a poor Muslim lawyer family. Qureshi, a disabled man, helps him file the case as Kanji decides to fight on his own. Legal notices are sent to the insurance company as well as to religious priests, Siddheshwar Maharaj (Govind Namdeo), Gopi Maiyya (Poonam Jhawer) and their group's founder, Leeladhar Swamy (Mithun Chakraborty) summoning them to the court as representatives of God on earth.

During the preliminary hearing, opposition lawyer Sardesai (Mahesh Manjrekar) asks the judge to dismiss the case. But Kanji points out that religious groups claim to represent God on Earth and speak on his behalf. Hence, they are answerable for his actions. The Judge agrees and the court accepts the case. However, Kanji soon finds himself trapped amongst armed fundamentalists, with his mortgage bank occupying the house, and his wife leaving him. In all instances, Kanji is rescued by Krishna Vasudev Yadav (Akshay Kumar), who claims to be a real estate agent, rides a hot-shot motorbike. Krishna buys Kanji's house from the bank, but allows Kanji to stay with him.

The lawsuit causes a public outcry. As Kanji and Krishna watch this on TV, Krishna advises him to go to the media and present his views to the public. Kanji's interview receives wide coverage and public opinion swings in his favour. Meanwhile, hundreds of people, whose insurance claims were rejected due to "Act Of God" show up at Hanif Qureshi's house and join the lawsuit. Kanji agrees to fight on behalf of all of them. In the next court session, Catholic priests and Muslim Mullahs are also summoned to the court as defendants. However, lawyer Sardesai points out that Kanji has no document that can prove the disaster was an "Act of God". The judge orders Kanji to present a written proof that will support his claim.

Kanji loses hope, but Krishna rescues the day again by advising Kanji to read the Bhagavad Gita, and the other holy books such as The Quran and The Bible, telling him that he would find the answer of all his questions. Kanji studies the books intensively for a month. In the next session, Kanji points out a passage in the holy books which says that "This world is a creation of God, and it is his will to allow it to grow or destroy", which strengthens his case. As he nears the end of his argument, he suddenly loses consciousness. He is rushed to the hospital, where doctors unsuccessfully try to revive him, leaving him comatose. They announce to the media that Kanji has been paralyzed, and that only God can now save him. When Kanji opens his eyes, he finds Krishna in front of him. Krishna caresses the left side of Kanji's body with his key chain and Kanji is able to walk again.

Krishna then reveals to the confused Kanji that he himself is Lord Krishna, and he has saved Kanji to show him that God does exist. Kanji then learns that he has been in a coma for a month and that a lot of things have happened during the period. The lawsuit's verdict was in his favor and religious organisations were ordered by court to pay the compensation to all the plaintiffs; people have started calling Kanji a "God". Meanwhile, Leeladhar, Gopi Maiyya, and Siddheshwar have opened a temple dedicated to Kanji and accumulated millions in donations. He also learns that as per his own "will", he is about to be removed from the ventilator and thousands have gathered for his funeral procession. Krishna gives him a choice of stopping the procession or to sit back quietly. Kanji decides to fight and Krishna takes him on his motorbike to stop the procession. Kanji arrives to find his statues erected at the place where his shop once stood. He wades through the stunned crowd and breaks the statue, then admonishes the crowd about trusting in God-men. He advises them to search for God in themselves, not in statues. When the crowd's anger turns towards the collected God-men, he prevents them from further violence and tells them to allow the cheating group to leave peacefully, advising them not to believe in them anymore.

After successfully completing the job, he goes back to Krishna to thank him, only to find him and his motorcycle disappeared. Kanji's family arrive and they are reunited. On their way home, Kanji sees Krishna's key chain on the floor. When he is about to secure it inside his jacket, he hears Krishna's voice, telling him to get rid of the key chain as fear of god was what he fought against all this time. Kanji smiles and throws it away and sees it disappear into the sky with a flash.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of OMG – Oh My God! is composed by Himesh Reshammiya, Sachin - Jigar and Meet Bros Anjjan, whilst the lyrics have been penned by Shabbir Ahmed, Kumaar, Swanand Kirkire and Subrat Sinha. The album features Reshammiya, Shreya Ghoshal, Kailash Kher, Benny Dayal, Ash King, Suraj Jagan, Keerthi Sagathia, Zubeen Garg, Meet Bros Anjjan, Arya Acharya, Mohd Irfan, Aman Trikha and Parash Nath behind the mic.

All lyrics written by Shabbir Ahmed, Kumaar, Swanand Kirkire and Subrat Sinha, except where noted.

Production

Producer Akshay Kumar announced the film in 2012. When the promos of the movie were released at first, people heard actor Salman Khan's voice and assumed that he was playing a role in the movie or maybe he was the narrator. Later, the director Umesh Shukla went on to clarify that Salman's voice was only being used in the promos of the movie. The director was quoted telling IANS, "He (Salman) will not be narrating in the film. He has that voice. My film is a light-hearted comedy and we need someone who can do justice to the visuals."

Later, it was confirmed that Kumar's close friend Paresh Rawal who appeared in the original play Kishen vs Kanhaiya was playing the lead role with Akshay himself playing the role of Krishna in the movie. Shahrukh Khan was also expected to play a supporting role in the film but later opted out of the project, and the role was taken over by Mithun Chakraborty. The filming was reported to have begun in January 2012. Also, director Prabhu Deva, who earlier directed Kumar's Rowdy Rathore, has been roped in to appear in an item-number along with Sonakshi Sinha. According to reports, producer Akshay Kumar will be doing a supporting role in the film and will be seen riding a specially designed bike for the movie theme, worth ₹1 million.

Release

OMG – Oh My God! released worldwide on 28 September 2012. Prior to its theatrical release, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certified the film with a U certificate.

Critical reception

The film was critically well received.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and said "On the whole, OMG – OH MY GOD! is a thought-provoking adaptation of a massively successful play. A movie tackling a sensitive and an untouched subject matter, it will find its share of advocates and adversaries, but the social message the movie conveys comes across loud and clear and that's one of the prime reasons why OMG becomes a deserving watch". Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated it 4 out of 5 reviewing "A brave and absorbing blend of satire, fable and fantasy that brings our attention to the misuse and commercialisation of religion". Faisal Saif of Independent Bollywood rated it 4 out of 5 and said "Strongly Recommended. Fearless concept with some Fearless performances".

Box office

The film had a low opening but showed good growth on its 2nd and 3rd day and collected ₹30 million (US$450,000) nett in its opening weekend. Despite slow start, the film managed to gross collections of ₹357.4 million (US$5.3 million) nett in its first week. The film collected ₹220 million (US$3.3 million) in its second week. The film continued its successful run in its third week and make a total of around ₹725.0 million (US$11 million) in three weeks. The film raked another ₹62.4 million (US$930,000) in its fourth week to make a total of ₹782.4 million (US$12 million) in four weeks. Overseas, OMG – Oh My God! grossed US$2.5 million in 10 days. At the end of 17 days, OMG – Oh My God! had grossed ₹104.5 million (US$1.6 million).

Controversy

The movie generated a lot of controversy over the depictions of prominent Hindu gods and Indian spiritual traditions. Jalandhar State Mahila Congress Vice President Nimisha Mehta lodged a complaint against the lead actors, Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar, and the producers of the film, for hurting religious sentiments of Hindus. The notice asked them to delete objectionable scenes and dialogues. Akshay Kumar was given police protection, after this incident.

The movie was banned in the United Arab Emirates. Vikram Malhotra of Viacom18 Pictures told the Hindustan Times: "We haven't been given an official statement yet, but from what we've been told, the content of the movie is too sensitive.

This movie is an adaptation of the Australian movie " The Man Who Sued God" released in 2001, which itself is an adaptation of the Gujrati play Kanji Virudh Kanji. On 12 July 2014, Madhya Pradesh High Court under the bench of Justice Ajay Manik Rao Khanwilkar and Alok Aradhe issued a notice to Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal for hurting religious sentiments of Hindus.

Awards

The movie was awarded the Best Hindi film award by Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS) during the second IRDS Hindi Film Awards for social concern. The film has won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 60th National Film Awards.