Saturday, September 29, 2012

Film Review: OMG OH MY GOD!



The film brings forth TRUTH!

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Prabhu Deva, Sonakshi Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty, Govind Namdeo, Mahesh Manjrekar, Om Puri
Director: Umesh Shukla

Well, I am back to the world of blogging after a very long time – a month and a half, actually – and this one is a review of a film that touched my heart. I simply loved OMG that sounds like a clarion call for the advent of THE GOLDEN AGE. Read on to find out more…

THE STORY

Kanjibhai (Paresh Rawal) owns a shop selling idols of Gods of various religions along with other items used in rituals. He is a typical business man who would not think twice about cheating people to make more money. More than that, Kanjibhai does not believe in anything without proof. This includes ‘God’. He opts to remain an atheist as no one is able to produce the proof of the existence of God.

During an earthquake, Kanjibhai’s shop crashes down, breaking all his stock to smithereens. He is set back by more than 40 lakh rupees while he has a loan on his house. The insurance company refuses to pay him any compensation insisting that the earthquake was an act of God and the policy does not cover such a circumstance. Finding himself and his family just one foot away from being left out on the streets, Kanjibhai decides to sue ‘God’.

That’s when Krishna Vasudev Yadav (Akshay Kumar) comes down to earth to help the atheist. Now why would God do such a thing? That’s for you to see the film and find out.

MY PERCEPTION

I simply adored the concept of the film. And it was quite well made. Paresh Rawal has sailed through his role as Kanjibhai. The character is so realistic and truthful and probably brings forth a number of questions that most of us want to ask but dare not do so. Kanjibhai takes a hit at blind faith, rituals that have ceased to be meaningful and the power of God-men. All these have been my personal pet peeves. Is it surprising that I just loved the film?

The film runs for just about 2 hours and has been made quite well. While it’s quite heavy on the dialogue side, there is no other way the director could have got forth what he wants to tell the public. I heard that the film has created a load of controversy in many places. If you see the film, you will not be surprised why that must be so.

Nikhil Ratnaparki deserves a special mention. While he does not have too many dialogues, his expressions say it all. I have seen this actor in many films, but somehow have never been able to find his name in the list of casts in imdb.com and Wikipedia. Surprising!

The film brings to light a number of instances where people have suffered losses without being compensated by their insurance companies. They have no help from any source. These are definitely based on real life situations and move one to tears. A hard-hitting truth!

We have seen Akshay Kumar as a Khiladi and also as a comedian – sometimes stretching into mindless comedy. But in this film, in the avatar of Lord Krishna, the actor is subtle with very little to talk. He is simply amazing and somehow managed to instill God’s faith in the person watching the film.

VERDICT: If you are open to seeing a different point of view that will awaken you to TRUTH, then you should not miss this one. I will go so far as to call this a futuristic film.

RATING: ****Snazzy

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super