OMG 2 Movie Review: Entertaining, Socially Relevant And Informative

Review: In OMG 2 a video by an anonymous person captures Kanti’s troubled teen son Vivek, masturbating in the school washroom.

Once the video goes viral, the school expels Vivek (Aarush Varma) to salvage its image and reputation. Ashamed of his son’s vulgar act and fearing public outrage, Kanti decides to flee with his family to an undisclosed location. His son’s suicide attempts and declining mental health owing to humiliation and bullying, compel him to open his eyes and question his own understanding of being a parent and an adult.

Religious and God-fearing Kanti decides to sue the school for the mental harassment caused to his son. He holds the elite educational institution accountable for being negligent towards their student’s need for sex education and the right to information. The school appoints English-speaking Kamini Maheshwari (Yami Gautam) as their defense lawyer. The latter argues that ‘masturbation is a sin’, our conservative society isn’t ready for sex education yet and there's a reason why private parts are called private. Their contradicting views and verbal exchange in court in front of a rather delightful judge (Pavan Malhotra ) form the story. The film does take a few liberties in the depiction of the court proceedings. You can even tell who's winning the legal battle fought on moral grounds but it's still quite interesting.

This sequel outshines the original mainly due to writer-director Amit Rai’s clever and crisp courtroom comedy. A spiritual sequel to Umesh Shukla’s OMG – Oh My God! (2012), OMG 2 hits the nail on the head while addressing a rather sensitive topic. Funny, fearless and entertaining, Rai doesn’t play safe. His writing challenges the status quo and yet upholds the sanctity of religion, dignity and India’s family values. His language is desi and voice, progressive. The social dramedy dares to begin a dialogue and conversation perceived as awkward. It calls out the parental flaws that have been long buried under the garb of culture.

This is a courageous attempt to understand the unspoken distance between desi parents and their children.

The first half is more gripping but through its 2 hours, 36 minutes runtime, the narrative doesn't get preachy or sluggish. Akshay Kumar, who had a cameo in the previous film, gets a larger part to play here as the messenger of God (altered from playing God to his messenger after the CBFC modification). There are at least 27 modifications made for Indian viewing so expect weird dubbing in parts. The A rating is an issue given how important this film is for families and teenagers.

OMG 2 boasts of a talented ensemble cast. Pankaj Tripathi is excellent as a father torn between guilt and anger. Akshay’s starry presence and hippie look make an impression. Yami Gautam is sincere but the attempt to project her as a menacing lawyer by resorting to over the shoulder camera angles don’t work much.

OMG2 indeed is entertaining, socially relevant and informative.