27 July,2023 11:47 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Akshay Kumar in the song `Har Har Mahadev`
Akshay Kumar's next 'OMG 2', the sequel to the 2012 film 'OMG: Oh My God!' is set to hit the theatres in two weeks. Ahead of the release of the film, the makers have dropped the first song titled 'Har Har Mahadev'. The song is centered around Akshay's character of Lord Shiva.
After playing a very subtle Lord Krishna in 'OMG: Oh My God', Akshay takes a not-so subtle approach of playing Lord Shiva. The actor is seen dressed as the widely known image of Lord Shiva with a jatamakuta (a coil of matted locks). In the first song from 'OMG 2', Akshay Kumar is seen dancing amid a sea of devotees. While not much is known about his character in the film, there is a scene in the song where Pankaj Tripathi, a staunch devotee, is seen looking at Akshay Kumar with his hands folded.
Meanwhile, talking about 'OMG 2', unlike the 2012 outing where the Lord comes to the rescue of an atheist, this time he comes to help his devotee. The first film starred Paresh Rawal alongside Akshay Kumar with the brilliant Mithun Chakraborty as a God Man.
The teaser of 'OMG 2' begins with a brief recap of part 1 where Paresh Rawal aka Kanjilal, an atheist, witnesses divine intervention when Lord Krishna comes to aide. He files a case against God after he loses his shop in a natural disaster. However, for the sequel, Akshay Kumar as Lord Shiva comes to the aide of his devotee Pankaj Tripathi. The character is portrayed as a believer who regularly worships Lord Shiva. The film also stars Yami Gautam as a lawyer. However, she was not seen in the teaser.
Earlier, 'OMG 2' was set to clash at the box office with Ranbir Kapoor-starrer 'Animal' directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Sunny Deol's 'Gadar 2', which were scheduled to release on August 11. However, the makers of 'Animal' have announced a new release date. The film will be out now on December 1. 'Gadar 2', however, stays put on August 11, the Independence Day weekend.
Sunny Deol was recently questioned about the box office clash in a recent interview with the Times of India. Sunny recalled how Gadar and Lagaan clashed in 2001 and how such films should not be compared. Sunny said, "Gadar did 100 crore plus, while Lagaan did much lesser. I don't understand why people compare - whether it's from the business or likeability point. Gadar didn't have the perception, people thought it is this masala film, yeh purani type ki picture hai, purane type ke gaane hai. On the other hand, people thought Lagaan was classic, etc. The so-called people who talk about films had run down Gadar completely. It went on to become a people's film, and they loved it. At award shows, I remember that they made a spoof of Gadar, but we weren't bothered by it. It has happened with some of my other films too, like Ghayal and Dil, which clashed."
"There is no comparison, but people like to do it. What I am trying to say is that jo film zyada acchi hoti hai phir bhi aap usko doosre films ke barabari mein le aatey ho. Jis cheez ki barabari nahin hai, mat karo," he added.
