There have been
very few films in the history of Indian cinema that have critiqued religion. In
fact, critiquing religion would be a sacrilege in the Indian religious context.
In such a scenario, Oh My God (OMG)
is a very bold attempt by director Umesh Shukla. The film not only critiques religion
as practised today in India, but demonstrates that the Divine is beyond all
religious practices and belief systems.
Director: Umesh Shukla
Film Clip
OMG is a story of a simple middle class man Kanji Lal who wages a
war with God, as the insurance company tells him that he cannot be given
compensation for the ruin of his shop in the earth quake, as it was the ‘act of
God’. And Kanji Lal has to defend his case himself since no lawyer dares fight
God. Of course, Kanji Lal has the strength to fight, ironically through the
help and grace of the same God whom he does not believe.
The film has been successful for more than one reason. First of all,
it treads the untrodden path and boldly tries to expose the hypocrisy and exploitative
structures in every religion as practised today. Further, it also makes a bold
statement that even if religion (all religions for that matter) may be good in
itself, the so called ‘custodians’ of these religions have turned them into a trade.
In the bargain, religion today has unfortunately metamorphosed into a mere
business with the visible absence of the divine.
The victory of Kanji Lal in the court of law is a victory for the Divine
as well, as shown in the film. This is because, God reveals to Kanji Lal, and through
him to everyone, that even if humans do not need religion, they need the
Divine.
The success of the film is also because of the brilliant role of
Kanji Lal played by Paresh Rawal, who embodies true nastic and fighter instincts into his rendering.
- Melwyn Pinto SJ
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