Director Amit Rai Reveals How Akshay Kumar's Courage Saved 'OMG 2'

Mumbai, August 17 - The sequel to Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal-starrer 2012's film "Oh My God - OMG" was finally released on August 11, 2023, and against all odds, it is set to emerge a big success. Directed by Amit Rai, "OMG 2" features Akshay as Lord Shiva in an extended appearance while this time, Pankaj Tripathi takes the central role with Yami Gautam.

"OMG 2" has had its own struggle story before hitting cinemas. The makers had to fight an internal battle with the censor board as board members were initially not willing to grant a censor certificate to the movie. However, after continued efforts, the movie got censored but not the way the makers would have liked. It was granted an "A" rating (18+ only) while the team wanted "U/A" which was denied.



During a recent interview with ETimes, Amit Rai said that he is still trying to convince the censor board members to change their decision and give the movie "U/A" certificate. He also revealed that he took some intelligent steps to save the film from so many cuts for which, the VFX team worked continuously to make certain changes.

Censorship issues aside, Amit Rai revealed that "OMG 2" would have never been made had Akshay Kumar not backed it. The movie deals with sex education in India and it has been given a religious angle to convey the message. Rai said that due to its subject, filmmakers like Karan Johar, Ashutosh Gowariker, Sony Pictures, and others had rejected the script and it was on the verge of getting shelved.

After many filmmakers rejected it, Akshay Kumar came forward and showed the courage to back it. "He was very open to the script and said that the film needs to be made. Because of him, we're still standing strong otherwise 'OMG 2' wouldn't have got made. I met Ashwin Varde, Vipul D Shah, and Rajesh Bahl and through them, I reached Akshay Kumar. If I hadn't managed to reach him, the script would have remained in some corner", the filmmaker said.

Produced by Akshay's Cape of Good Films, Viacom18 Studios, and Wakaoo Films, "OMG 2" is going strong at the box office and scored approx. 108 crores gross collection worldwide in just 6 days. The movie has managed to withstand the "Gadar 2" wave and script its own story to emerge as a success.

Stay tuned...