#OMG2 director Amit Rai reveals KJo had rejected film's script
Amit Rai is having a dream run, thanks to his social drama Oh My God 2, which has been received positively by critics and audiences, and is inching closer toward collecting Rs. 100cr in India. Rai—who had earlier directed Road to Sangam—recently spoke about how filmmakers like Karan Johar and Ashutosh Gowariker had rejected his script, but Akshay Kumar showed conviction in his ideas.
Rai believes 'OMG 2' would have remained incomplete without Kumar
Rai told ETimes, "I was sitting at home for about 10 years [due to lack of work] after Road to Sangam. Sony, Karan Johar, Ashutosh Gowariker and others had rejected [OMG 2's] script. Finally, Akshay Kumar showed the courage to back it. He said that the film needs to be made. Because of him, we're standing strong otherwise OMG 2 wouldn't have got made."
Kumar also suggested the chartbuster song 'Har Har Mahadev'
Further highlighting how the Aitraaz actor added value to the film, Rai revealed, "Akshay Kumar would ask a lot of questions like a child because he was enthusiastic to play the role of Lord Shiva and he gave a lot of inputs too. The song Har Har Mahadev was brought by him." He added that there were almost no alterations made to his look.
On CBFC's decision: 'There is an angst'
The film has been rated 'A' by the CBFC, thus, teenagers are barred from watching it. Ironically, the film addresses teenagers much more than it speaks to adults. Reacting to this, Rai said, "There's an angst. But we have to follow the law of the land. I can oppose but cannot rebel. I am here to make films and not bring a revolution."
The makers re-edited the film in about 70 hours
Reacting to CBFC's controversial decision, Rai told ETimes, "I told them at that time as well that I have not done or said anything titillating or offensive in OMG 2." Underlining how the VFX team completed the nightmarish task in 70-odd hours, he added, "Words like Geeta and Yajurved got cut but the content did not. We had to redub a lot of things."
Up next, he will likely work on a historical film
Rai also opined that sex education (which is OMG 2's central theme) must be taught in schools and "there's no other way." Speaking about his upcoming projects, he revealed that he aspires to work on an "even bigger" story centered around a "historical personality." "There's a debt that all of us have to pay to [this personality]," the director-writer concluded.