OH MY GOD is a bold move
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| Director :
| Umesh Shukla
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| Music :
| Himesh Reshammiya
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| Lyrics :
| Subrat Sinha, Kumaar, Sameer, Swanand Kirkere and Shabbir Ahmed
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| Starring :
| Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Mithun Chakraborthy, Poonam Jhawer, Govind Namdeo and Mahesh Manjrekar
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September 28, 2012 12:18:55 PM IST
By Martin D'Souza, Glamsham Editorial
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Beware: Many are going to feel offended. But if you scratch the surface, you will see the truth behind this teaching.
In a country plagued by religious beliefs, OH MY GOD! comes as a bold move. A move that is likely to be viewed fanatically by those immersed in religious rituals forgetting the simple truth of living. But for those with wisdom, this movie is like, "Oh My God. Really!"
Kudos to director Umesh Shukla and his entire cast and crew and those behind the scenes for illustrating the pointlessness of all religious beliefs and driving the message straight to the heart. Jesus had the same problem with religious fanatics. The Bible, in the Gospel of Mathew (chapter 23, verse 27) quotes Jesus as saying: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean." He shocked the radicals with his simple truth of loving.
This is the precise message Kanjibhai (Paresh Rawal) brings to the fore on screen with his forceful persona. And he targets the babas and gurus and all those who go for darshans seeking mannats by spending huge sums of money to pour milk down the drain when just outside the temple, there are hundreds who are hungry and thirsty.
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Kanjibhai is an atheist. He loves his life and his family. His business is that of selling idols of various gods. He makes fun of these as he buys them for a very small price and fools the gullible fanatics by selling them for large sums, giving gyaan of how it was unearthed hundreds of years ago in famous temples. He is literally laughing all the way to the bank, when the Gods decide to reprimand him.
There's an earthquake and it is only his shop that is completely destroyed. Those around him now point out to him how god has punished him because he always poked fun at him. But Kanjibhai is adamant; he knows there is no God and goes to claim his insurance where he learns of the existence of God. In the clause it is written that his shop is covered under all calamities, but for an "Act of God", there is no cover. The insurance company is not liable to pay Kanjibhai a single naiya paisa.
There is a hilarious turn how Kanjibhai lets out his fury on the company's boss in front of his employees.
He then decides to sue God. And since God has no address his notices are sent to all temples where there is an uproar among the pundits and babas. And since no lawyer is willing to fight his case, he is guided by a Muslim lawyer to fight his own case, since there is a provision in the law for the same. After the initial indignation of the appalling act, Kanjibhai soon receives support and in fact agrees to fight hundreds of cases of people who have lost their insurance because of the "Act of God" clause.
The courtroom scene where Kanjibhai takes on the lawyer and pundits is hilarious and insightful. Ditto the television show where he is the guest. His views transforms even the television anchor, who started by putting him on the mat with her direct line of questioning.
Kanjibhai's logic is simple. If there is a God, show it in your behavior. Don't be a double-faced fool. Let the millions being spent of useless rituals be used for the poor and needy that really need that money. Let the phoney babas and gurus be exposed for who they really are, instead of blindly following them.
Govind Namdeo, Mithun Chakraborty and Poonam Jhawer as Gopi Mayya who con the people in the name of God are first rate. Mithun as the effeminate guru and Namdeo as the fiery pundit along with their shadow, Poonam, are perfect in enacting characters.
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Akshay Kumar as God, who visits Kanjibhai in his fight, pitches in with a balanced performance. He urges Kanjibhai to read the holy books when he gets stuck in his case. He assures him that he will find all his answers there. He does, as he boldly goes about quoting the Bhagwad Gita, Quoran and the Holy Bible in court to flummox the 'holy ones'
In the end, the message that is preached is the simple truth I spoke of in the beginning. That of loving. God is within all of us. We all have to look within, instead of running here and there in search of God. Someone has rightly said, stones enter the temple and become gods, we enter the temple and still remain stones!
Theres a lovely insight Kanjibhai gives when asked what religion does to a person. After thinking a bit he states, "It either makes you a ritual-freak, or a terrorist."
Rating: 3.5
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