OMG 2 director Amit Rai opens up on learnings from 2023, the reception to the film, and run-ins with CBFC.
OMG 2, starring Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi, was one of the few content-based Indian films from 2023 that made a mark at the box office. The courtroom drama based on sex education earned Rs 221 crore at the box office despite a host of controversies and run-ins with the censor board prior to release. In an exclusive chat with DNA, the film’s director Amit Rai looks back at his 2023 and the film, talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
OMG 2 was cut heavily by the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), colloquially called the censor board, and eventually given an A-rating. But Rai does not want to dwell on all that. “I was able to get the film out in the manner I wanted. But yes, the censor did demotivate me a bit but it became a democratic film. Across the world, people from all sections of the society and all age groups saw it and their reaction proves that my efforts have succeeded. All we wanted to do was to start a conversation in the family, among the kids. I think we have been successful, to some extent, in doing that,” says the director.
OMG 2 released on August 11, the same day as another anticipated sequel Gadar 2. In the end, both films did well, with Gadar 2 shattering several box office records and minting Rs 691 crore. Talking about the negation of the ‘clash’, Rai says, “This is a good sign. The audience always existed but now they are telling us that if the content is good, this clash does not matter.”
The filmmaker says so many Hindi films working in 2023 is a good sign but laments that his film did not get a chance to utilise its full potential. “The year set a record for Hindi cinema in terms of footfalls, I believe. And I feel if my film did not have the A-certificate, this record would have been even bigger. I don’t know how much this film could have done. If it wasn’t an A-certificate film, then maybe it would have been neck and neck with Gadar 2, minting money at the box office, because families would have come for it. The censor board killed half of my family audience when they gave it the A-rating. The censor board hurt me financialy too and in terms of content as well. But those are bygones,” says the filmmaker.
Rai says he is entering 2024 with a hope and goal of doing better still. “This last year, like every other, taught me a lot. It told me that you have drawn this line on the sand with your film but now you must do something bigger and better next year. More importantly, it should be better quality because the competition is far stronger now. Now, you are competing with films from across the world for your viewer’s attention,” he says, before signing off.
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 "OMG 2 and Gadar 2")
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