The 'After Hrs' review: 'Oh My God!'

Film: Oh My God!  
Directed by Umesh Shukla 
Cast:  Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Mithun Chakraborty, Mahesh Manjrekar
Rating: **

In a country where religious rituals and superstitions often override logic, a venture like Oh My God! may end up ruffling a lot of feathers. The film questions everything from the existence of the divine Creator to the role of godmen who propagate the idea of an angry and revengeful God just to fill their own coffers.

“Dharm insaan ko ya toh bebas bana deta hai ya phir atankwadi” (Religion either makes us helpless or turns us into terrorists), notes Rawal’s character Kanjibhai. And one has to agree with him, no matter how grudgingly. The concept has been borrowed from a Gujarati play (which in turn has been lifted from Hollywood flick The Man Who Sued God)

Kanjibhai is an atheist and sells idols of gods and goddesses. When his small business collapses after an earthquake, he approaches the insurance company which turns him away saying that the calamity was an act of God and hence was not covered in the policy.

Enraged, he decides to prove a point by suing the insurance company and several religious heads in the country who claim to be God’s representatives and seem to be “running a flourishing business in His name”.

The film takes potshots at meaningless customs, blind faith and idol worship. Though the effort is commendable and even enjoyable in parts, what goes against the film is the incessant hamming on the part of both Rawal and Kumar who plays Lord Krishna. The dialogues get tiresome after a while and one ends up rolling up one’s eyes every time Kumar tries to play the cool and tech-savvy God.

Also, the otherwise tongue-in-cheek movie stops short of irking the minority communities and only makes passing reference to the rituals of offering flowers at dargahs and lighting candles at churches. Kanjibhai’s victory is too obvious and his new-found faith in the Almighty is kind of a let-down. They can’t just take away our only reason for rooting for Rawal’s character, no?

See it only if you are not touchy about religion or if you have nothing better to do over the weekend!

Verdict: Watch it or miss it, it’s up to you!