Paresh Rawal says ‘OMG 2’ was his idea, Akshay Kumar took over the script but never credited him: ‘My name was not mentioned anywhere’ | Hindi Film News

OMG 2 was released in 2023 and was a critical and commercial success despite facing lengthy scrutiny from the CBFC for its mix of sex education and religious themes. After many revisions (including demos), the film finally received an A certificate Akshay Kumaras a divine messenger rather than the role of Lord Shiva. The company reportedly has revenue of over Rs 221 crore globally. Starring in the first “OMG” Paresh Rawal Playing the lead role, the sequel stars Pankaj Tripathi.Now, LaVar claims the film was originally based on an idea he came up with with the director Amit Raibut major changes took place after Akshay Kumar took office. The veteran actor said the final version was significantly different from the story he envisioned, causing him to abandon the project. He also claimed that he was not credited with the original story or concept.Paresh recalls that the original idea came to him from Amit Rai, whose work in Road to Sangam he admired. “I approached Amit Rai, the director of ‘The Road’, and asked him if he was planning another film. I admired him a lot. I told him, ‘I have an idea. Let’s sit down and write it.’ I told him I was not a writer, but I could contribute ideas and help figure out where we went wrong because I understood the script to some extent,” he said.The actor said the original story revolved around a young boy whose private behavior was recorded and shared online, leading to humiliation and social isolation. The story follows his father’s fight to restore his son’s dignity and challenge the stigma surrounding the incident.“The story is about a boy who is caught masturbating and a video of the incident goes viral, making his life miserable. His father is a tour guide at the Khajuraho temple. Amit suggested making him a part-time priest at the Mahakal temple. We developed the script together and even roped in sexologist Dr. Prakash Kothari. We had several meetings because our intention was to make the film educational, entertaining and not vulgar. We were deeply involved in the process,” Paresh said.He added that the narrative of the script is Anurag Kashyap before arrival Somen Mishra Produced by Damo. “There are some people who are very vocal and say it won’t work.”Paresh insists the film was never conceived as a sequel to “Oh My God.” Instead, he envisioned a cyclist serving as the protagonist’s guide rather than a divine figure. “Our main idea was to have a biker guide the father, not God. In the first OMG, God appeared because the incident was against God. But the film is about a father’s fight to get justice for his son. There was no need for a divine character. We wanted someone like the character played by Kader Khan in Mukadar Ka Sikandar,” he explains.He revealed that he was close to Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan For the role of a biker, Akshay Kumar was deliberately not approached.“I didn’t contact Akshay because people would think it was OMG 2, but that was not the plan,” he said. Paresh further claimed that while the project is still taking shape, discussions have already started around Akshay joining the film. “My impression is that we are still working things out. We even had a meeting with Vipul Shah of Optimystix. They also asked about Akshay and I said that if I want to work with him, I will contact him directly. Akshay and I are partners at OMG. I didn’t need anyone to bridge the gap,” he recalled.According to Paresh, Amit Rai later told him that Akshay wanted to star in the project. “A few days later, Amit Rai called me and told me that Akshay wanted to do the film. The problem was that Amit had tentatively written ‘OMG 2’ on the script because of a similar genre,” Paresh said.He also claimed that the producers Ashwin Ward Played an important role in bringing the project to Akshay. “At one of our meetings, Ashwin Wade was present. That’s when they decided to collaborate with Akshay. ” he claimed. Paresh said that once the project started moving in a different direction, he decided to quit rather than argue with Amit Rai about the changes.“I told Amit I didn’t want to continue. Amit said, ‘But they want to succeed.'” They took the script away from him. I told Amit I couldn’t fight him; he was my friend. If this is his choice, I wish him the best. I repeatedly told them not to turn it into a franchise because it’s not a franchise. But they still kept going,” he said.He added that Akshay later approached him with an offer to star in the film, but he turned it down because he no longer believed it was a story he helped develop. “I talked to Akshay. He asked me to do the film. I told him, ‘No. This is not the film I imagined. There is no role of God in the story.’ He tried to convince me, but I accepted the script from the beginning. I know exactly what it should be. That’s why I left,” Paresh said.The role of the father was eventually played by Pankaj Tripathi while Akshay Kumar essayed the role of ‘Shiv ka Doot’.Paresh said his biggest disappointment was that his contribution to the original concept was not recognized. “The saddest thing is that I didn’t even get credit for the story or concept. My name wasn’t mentioned anywhere,” he claimed.He further asserted that several prominent figures in the industry knew that he came up with the idea. “Amit, Akshay, Ashwin, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar and Salman Khan… all knew that this was my idea and my story. Ajay and Salman might have said no because of the topic. They thought it might be controversial. I tried to explain the concept to them,” he said.