OMG 2 Movie Review: Pankaj Tripathi Saves Akshay Kumar Film Otherwise Banking On Lord Shiva

'OMG 2’ follows the exact same narrative style and plot of  ‘OMG – Oh My God!’ The way-too-loyal sequel seems like a safety net which wraps and advocates a new topic: sex education in schools.

New Delhi: ‘OMG 2’ follows the exact same narrative style and plot of  ‘OMG – Oh My God!’ which was released in 2012. The way-too-loyal sequel seems like a safety net which wraps and advocates a new topic: sex education in schools. Starring Akshay Kumar, Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam in the lead, the Amit Rai directorial like its first film uses a stellar supporting cast to disguise this satirical comedy drama which feels more like a sanitized propaganda of the erstwhile Sanatan Hindu Dharma which taught Kam Shastra in gurukuls until the infamous Lord Macaulay submitted his equally infamous report( Macaulay’s Minute) in 1835.

OMG 2 Plot

‘OMG 2’ revolves around a middle class father defending his son for having masturbated in a school bathroom thanks to the inept education system, parenting and everyone in between. A court case is filed against the school authorities and what follows is what the film is about.

OMG 2 Cast Performances

For a change, ‘OMG 2’ does not have so much of Akshay Kumar’s role per se in comparison to the first film. 

In ‘OMG 2’, Akshay plays a Shiv Bhakt, a messenger of Lord Shiva himself, who transforms into him( like the first part, in one of the crucial scenes of the film) to reveal that the disciple and Guru are in fact one and the same being.

This time, Akshay sports the pop culture Shiv bhakt look. He has long hair( jatadhari), wears shirts with holes, has the ash tika on his forehead, and plays the typical uber-modern shiv bhakt man that we see around in contemporary society.

Pankaj Tripathi plays a simple middle-class man with a family, a shiv-bhakt/daas, whose devotion towards Mahakal gets him direct help from Lord Shiva himself.

Pankaj Tripathi is the heart and soul of ‘OMG 2’ on whose shoulders rests the heavy burden of carrying a film which has too many leaky holes that need to be plugged.

Yami Gautam, plays the opposing defense lawyer, with a customized sinister background score that follows every time she begins questioning people in the film. 

Both Yami Guatam and Pankaj Tripathi deliver satisfying performances while the latter shines and plays his innocent on-screen attitude with all the earnestness and honesty of a naive shiv bhakt.

Barring the three leads, supporting cast members Pavan Malhotra, Govind Namdev, Arun Govil and Bijendra Kala all play their parts well.

OMG 2 Research

What ‘OMG 2’ lacks in context is some intensity and depth when it comes to the research. Research not about sex education in education systems, that looks on point. Even bringing Kam Shastra into a courtroom with the use of pure Hindi to sanitize words in English is research on point, there is some inherent lack of depth in the screenplay, the characters on screen.

For some reason, there is a sense of superficiality that is predominantly present everywhere. If that is intentional on the filmmaker's part ,to convey with the choice of sex education as a topic( something that is out there but always in wraps), or incidental, it is hard to say.

Somehow, ‘OMG 2’ does not hit you in the gut the way it should. 

OMG 2 Music

Most of Akshay Kumar’s sequences are complimented with a profuse use of Kailash Kher, Vikram Montrose, Hansraj Raghuwanshi songs. There is ample raw energy in the background score that compliments most of Akshay Kumar’s scenes.

In other parts, the music compliments the genre, which sometimes does become over the top, like the uber-pop-culture song ‘Har Har Mahadev’.

There is one element that does stand out. When Akshay Kumar transforms himself into Lord Shiva himself to prove to Pankaj Tripathi ( Kanti Sharan Mudgal) that he in fact is the messenger of Shiv, there is use of the echo sound to give the effect of the omnipresent God whose voice echoes through all realms of the galaxy.

OMG 2 Screenplay

Like the first film ‘OMG -Oh My God!’The second film follows the exact same trajectory to reach to an all's well that ends well. The protagonist has a family crisis, there is a court case in which the protagonist fights himself with the help of God.

There is an act of betrayal and God’s punishment which miraculously turns into a point of self discovery and penitence and the protagonists sets on to undo the wrong done.

Like the first film, in ‘OMG 2’, Pankaj Tripathi has a life-threatening accident which causes his death and a rebirth when God miraculously gives him a second chance to undo the wrongs of society.

Having said that, 'OMG 2' is way too long a film in terms of screen time to bing about the desired social reform. Slashing a couple of songs and a crisper edit would have made the film's message come across even more emphaticaly.

OMG 2 standout moments

While there is not anything new in this moral tale which preaches social reform, a genre that Bollywood has now mastered, there are some standout moments in ‘OMG 2’.

One for instance is Akshay Kumar singing ‘Udja Kale Kawan’. The fact that ‘Gadar 2’ releases on the same day as ‘OMG 2’, makes this meta-referencing almost hilarious. 

On a serious note, Pankaj Tripathi’s performance, Akshay Kumar in the proper Shiva avatar, and some courtroom drama form the backbone of the film.

While there is isn’t anything out of the ordinary about the film but the clever way of talking about sex education in schools, ‘OMG 2’ deserves full marks for the attempt to navigate such a topic with full earnestness, however sanitized by making it pleasing to the eye and ear to watch and hear.

Topics such as this( sex eduaction) considered a taboo in society like ours being dealth with all earnestness, supported by religious scriptures and venerated texts, is a difficult subject to navigate on screen. Yet, Amit Rai deserves a special mention for making it look like the most natural and organic tea-room conversation to have.

Perhaps, the writer would have to watch the film once again to clear her confused and mixed stance on it.

‘OMG 2’ is in theatres now. Let us know what you think about the film.