Paresh Rawal as Kanji Lalji Mehta in the 2012 movie OMG sued God in a court of law and got away with it. But now, 11 years later, the narrative has moved backwards. In the film’s newest iteration, OMG 2, Pankaj Tripathi as Kanti Sharan Mudgal, a devout Shiva devotee, cannot afford to go against God or religion.
With outrage and offence becoming daily staples, Amit Rai’s OMG 2 plays it safe. It does not return to the original premise of atheism. That is too risky in the religiously charged climate in India today. Nor does it endorse worshipping — that would have negated what the franchise stood for in the first place. So, it finds a sweet spot in traditionalism.
And so, OMG 2 delivers warped answers to sex, sex education, and masturbation, which are mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures. The movie tells you that we just have to turn back the pages of time to find this wisdom.
OMG 2 tackles these thorny teenage issues that adults would rather avoid from a very male perspective. And like its predecessor, this soul–searching unfolds in a court of law.
“Jis sanatan dharma ke chaar stambh hai, unhe aap ashleel keh rahin hai (The sanatan dharma that rests on four pillars, are you calling it vulgar?),” devotee-turned-lawyer Mudgal asks Kamini Maheshwari (Yami Gautam), the defence counsel. The two are fighting a case of a boy being rusticated from school after he was filmed masturbating inside the washroom. Interestingly, the film never addresses the point that the young boy was recorded without his consent.
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God and devotion — difficult territory now
Akshay Kumar, who plays Krishna in both movies, pops up on the screen to give some sage advice. It’s quite unlike his Krishna avatar in OMG, in which he lauds the protagonist, Mehta, for questioning the existence of God. There, he explains how an atheist is someone who assesses before believing anything. “Isliye main tumhare saamne aaya, kyunki tumne wahi sab kiya jo ek naastik karta hai.. aur ek sachha nastik hi sachha aastik ban sakta hai (I presented myself before you because you did all that a true atheist does. And, only a true atheist can become a real believer),” says Kumar as Krishna in the 2012 film. The idea was to highlight the difference between honest devotees and the ones who just harp sermons in the name of religion.
In OMG, Mehta files a lawsuit against God after an insurance company refuses to pay for ‘an act of God’ — an earthquake that wrecked his shop. During the trial, he drags major religious figures of the country to court, using the case to highlight their exploitation for commercial means through propaganda.
In a scene from OMG, Mehta cites religious texts — Bhagavad Gita, Bible, and Quran — to drive his point home that God was responsible for his shop’s destruction. The film calls out socially constructed religious norms, and the materialistic evolution of religion as a means for business while underlining that God never intended for human society to blindly believe anything in the name of religion.
Two years later, in 2014, Aamir Khan’s PK (directed by Rajkumar Hirani) also tried to ride a similar trope — unwrapping the complex relationship between God and devotees’ undying faith and how self-styled gurus take advantage of it.
But since then, God and devotion have become tricky territory for writers and filmmakers.
The outrage elicited by the Prabhas-starrer Adipurush—based on the Ramayana—showed that when it comes to religion, nobody can get it right in India anymore. The team did everything, from “reserving a seat for God” in theatres to performing rituals at temples, but Manoj Muntashir‘s colloquial vocabulary for the script and director Om Raut’s innocuous peck on Kriti Sanon’s cheek during promotions was enough to spark controversy.
Ayan Mukerji’s 2022 film Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, inspired by Hindu mythology, is another example where religious sentiments were hurt. Ranbir Kapoor as Shiva rings a temple’s bell — which was actually a Durga puja pandal — with his shoes on. Not just that, an old video surfaced in which the actor is saying that he is a “beef guy”, further riling up those who were offended. Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chadha (2022) was also not immune to the wrath of the boycott gang, who launched a campaign against him for hurting religious beliefs in his previous film PK.
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Modus operandi of OMG 2
Unlike Mehta, Kanti of OMG 2 relies on Hindu scriptures to argue his point. He steers clear of religious debates and instead emphasises the significance of Sanatana Dharma and shastras. There’s no cause for outrage in that.
“Jab puri duniya karwat le rahi thi, toh hamaro Sanatan Hindu Dharma daud riha tha (When the rest of the world was still taking baby steps, our Sanatan Hindu religion was running ahead of them),” argues Kanti, a resident of Ujjain.
He cites ancient Indian texts such as Kamashastra, Panchatantra, Kamasutra, and Charak Samhita and references to the caves of Ajanta-Ellora and Khajuraho to prove that India is not a stranger to the concept of sex and self-pleasure. The usage of language and terms like linga and yoni is also a nod to what prominent religious figures have been advocating for. Deriving its teachings from scriptures, OMG 2 prime audience seems to be teenagers and young adults. So, when the film got an ‘A’ certificate after 27 modifications, many voiced their concerns. Spiritual leader Sadhguru said that the film should not be kept away from its target audience, i.e., adolescents.
At one point, Kanti calls for a revival of the education system and dismissal of the Macaulay model of education, something which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been saying for years.
One vs many
A film that could have been the first major production to talk about sex education limits itself to batting for sexual liberation from a male perspective.
In a courtroom full of men, Kamini tries to give a practical perspective of the complex issue. She calls out Kanti for intellectualising the video’s vulgarity and even poses questions about how conversations around masturbation and sex can be normalised in smaller towns. Kanti’s response to every question is a ride back to ancient Indian scriptures. Instead of giving her a platform to debate, OMG 2 treats Kamini as a villain — a chilling score each time the camera closes in on her adds to that.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)