OMG 2 Movie Review: Pankaj Tripathi Aces The Show as Akshay Kumar Supports Big in Year’s Most Non-Toxic And Important Film

OMG 2 Movie Review: While Akshay Kumar looks magical as Lord Shiva, the film is an out and out Pankaj Tripathi's show. Read on.

OMG 2 movie review: First thing first, OMG 2 has its heart in the right place. The film travels from religion to explaining the need for sex education in the country and uses history, comedy, culture, and relationships to prove its purpose. A sequel to Oh My God (2012) which was a smart take on religion becoming a business, OMG 2 doesn’t hit as hard as the Paresh Rawal film did but it has its moments.

The film stars Pankaj Tripathi as Kanti, an ardent follower of Lord Shiva, and Akshay Kumar as the Shiva himself. Even though there’s a reference to him becoming the messenger of God after the Censor Board intervention, there are ample scenes that feature him as the deity himself. No complaints there, Akshay plays the role with precise ease – flaunting the dreadlocks and appearing at just the right place at the right time in Kanti’s life. The screen lights up the first time he asks Kanti to ‘rakh vishwaas, tu hai Shiv ka daas‘.

OMG 2 is set in Ujjain, the city of Mahakal. It begins when Kanti’s son, Vivek (Aarush Varma) is restricted from the school after he is caught masturbating in the school’s washroom. Vivek is the victim of bullying where his fellow male students keep asking him about his penis size and attack his ‘manhood’. In the absence of anyone to discuss his problems, he moves to the internet which leads him to believe that the ‘size’ is everything.

After rebuking his child first, Kanti, with the help of divine intervention, becomes the supportive father. He sues the school, the doctor who assures his child about the problem in his ‘size’, the peddler, and the chemist – all of them who have led Vivek to believe that sex education is shameful and the idea of masculinity is all about the penis size. Next, we see, he is in the courtroom fighting against English-speaking Kamini (Yami Gautam Dhar) and Judge Purushottam (Pavan Malhotra).

OMG 2 finds many similarities with OMG – Kanti representing himself in the court, and the diety helping him with riddles and shlokas from the purans everytime he’s stuck during the case. Director Amit Rai makes ample room for humour in the court and smartly engages the audience in the drama which shapes from questioning the existence of the ‘kam vidya’ (sex education) in the historical description of Hindu texts and figures. The humour reaches its peak when you see Akshay’s Lord Shiva singing ‘Tu ghar aja pardesi‘ in a beautifully weaved scene – highlighting the makers’ take on its rival ‘Gadar 2‘ at the Box Office.

As Kanti fights the case which eventually attracts the attention of the national media, Kanti also fights discrimination in society against his family, and the class difference where the influential set never ceases to remind him that he is a mere ‘Mahakal bhakt’ who neither owns a house nor a shop. Pankaj Tripathi aces this role. It’s probably the first time he has been entrusted with so much of the screen space in a big commercial cinema – a duty that probably no one else could have done better than him. His Kanti is a Shaivite but he is also a thinking man. He doesn’t leave everything to God but works alongside him to achieve the ultimate truth. Pankaj holds certain expressions on his face which make him look tremendously convincing in the role of a man who’s emotional but also rational. During a courtroom scene, he ends up bowing down in front of a sex worker with a hint of pride and emotion in the eye, and you follow. In many scenes, his simplicity shines through, almost as if he’s just playing himself – if you have met him and gotten a chance to know the person that he is for a moment.

OMG 2 is an out-and-out Pankaj Tripathi show. The film uses its other actors smartly but never takes away from Pankaj. Geeta Agarwal Sharma as Kanti’s weeping wife Indumati brings freshness while Brijendra Kala in his brief role as the cooperative doctor also leaves an impact. Arun Govil, mostly popular for playing Lord Ram in the epic Ramayan, totally suits his character as a rich, strict, and shrewd school principal. So much so that you often end up wondering why he’s not offered or seen beyond Ram on-screen.

The result in the court and which side is winning – is not a surprise but the drama that surrounds that journey is exciting. OMG 2 picks a poignant question and helps you answer that in all its fairness. But, it also leaves a few other questions unanswered on the way. The need for sex education is questioned, but school bullying is not. How the education system has to be reshaped is highlighted but how families can help educate their kids about sex is not. The film still appears important and the intention of the makers win it all at the end.

OMG 2 is not your preachy documentary. It’s an entertaining film that doesn’t mince its words and addresses the concerns of both the parents and the kids. The film doesn’t beat around the bush in its intention. But, also doesn’t make rude gestures at telling people that their belief system is trash. In a scene, Kanti highlights how it’s important to say the right thing in a way that pleases ears. And that’s exactly what the film also does. It pleases you by telling you to do the right thing.

Stars: 3.5

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