What do you do when all your investments fall prey to an earthquake and the insurance company refuses to cooperate by citing it as an “act of God”? You sue, of course. This is the concept of the film Oh My God. The story has been plagiarised from the Australian film, The Man Who Sued God (2001).

First time director Umesh Shukla, apart from being a brilliant plagiarist is also a fantastic storyteller. He shows complete mastery over his craft and keeps you engaged till the very last. At a time when most religions have moved away from the core principles of humanity, fairness and equality, OMG shows us what divinity has to say about religious zealots.

Rarely do you get to see a Hindi film that has dialogues that are as witty as they are profound, as comical as they are gloomy. The screenplay is gripping and engaging, though reducing the duration of the film by 15 minutes would have been better as there are times when you feel the story begin to drag and there’s quite a bit of repetition, especially in the first hour of the film. Those who aren’t offended by the content of the film will notice how the director, after making some very strong statements, retracts. This seems to be more out of a need to win favour with the audience than a creative or artistic choice.

On the acting front, Paresh Rawal proves himself over and over again in the film. Akshay Kumar does a decent job especially because there isn’t much that he’s required to do. Mithun Chakroborty who plays a swami with serious effeminate qualities is outstanding; it is unbelievable how much the character suits him. Govind Namdeo as the angry swami and the butt of the film’s jokes is brilliant. Salman Khan got a special thank you in the opening credits, I’m still figuring out what for.

All in all, Oh My God is a poignant reminder of what we have become as a society.