In a sea of dumb Bollywood comedies (many starring Akshay Kumar himself), this one at least starts off a debate. For that alone, it’s not entirely a write-off. I’m going with two out of five for Oh My God!. Carry cotton for your ears to drown out all the shouting!

‘Oh My God’ gets a tad schmaltzy towards the end, but I suppose that was the only way this piece of mildly irreverent tongue-in-cheek look at` ishwar-paigambar-isaah masih’ could close.

OMG Oh My God! is about something that touches all our lives – religion. It is a film about our relationship with God, how instead of being God-loving, we have become God-fearing. How religion has become a business run by godmen (here aptly referred to as ‘salesmen’) who aren’t in fact very spiritual at all. A note to atheists and agnostics – the film is not an endorsement of those views. It insists on the existence of God.

There’s no sign of character fatigue or repetition. Armed with superb writing and a keen understanding of Kanji’s convictions and qualms, the actor grabs his viewer’s attention from start to finish. Like the remark of the guy in the shop, ‘Bande mein dum hai, yaar.’

So, despite the high fun quotient inherent in the concept and the steady flow of droll one-liners from the principal players, OMG never rises to particularly great heights either as an entertainer or a social message-oriented drama.

Though the film’s plot is a point that has been debated often, it has never before presented on this large a scale. The screenplay of the movie is excellent, with witty dialogues that have been intelligently written. Courtroom scenes where Kanjibhai presents his case are quite amusing. The direction is good and cinematography is perfect.

For once, there’s a movie that wants you to use your brains instead of just clapping and whistling away at the mindless action/sex scenes. Watch OMG Oh My God also because it has good performances and an interesting concept.

On the whole, OMG – OH MY GOD! is a thought-provoking adaptation of a massively successful play. A movie tackling a sensitive and an untouched subject matter, it will find its share of advocates and adversaries, but the social message the movie conveys comes across loud and clear and that’s one of the prime reasons why OMG – OH MY GOD! becomes a deserving watch.

For a change we have a film that doesn’t have the mandatory romance, but instead talks about something serious, but in a funny way. Even though he doesn’t play the lead role, ironically this is also Akshay Kumar’s most watchable film in a long time.

But of course like the film you have to keep going back to Paresh Rawal. It is his performance that drives this film. The dialogue by Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla acts as an able side kick. But it’s Rawal’s Kanji bhai who is the superhero of not just the film but of the many Indians who feel an incorrigible need to vent their frustrations of social and religious dysfunction plaguing our country.

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!

f one talks about the other aspects of the film, from music to cinematography, they all seem pretty decent. If this movie works for you it’s because of Paresh and the fresh take at religion. Go watch it. It might be ages since we come across a decent comedy.

To wrap up, ‘OMG Oh My God!’ is a film that is undoubtedly one that rests solely on the shoulders of Paresh Rawal, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the man takes away the award for the ‘Best Male Debut’ this year. Akshay Kumar, as the 21st-century Krishna, offers a much-welcome break to his audience. The ‘Divine Comedy’ doesn’t bore. Watch the film for a lot of things – Paresh Rawal being the top of the list!