Akshay Kumar gave a fresh twist to Lord Krishna in his 2012 hit film OMG – Oh My God, which he also produced. Directed by Umesh Shukla and starring Paresh Rawal in the main lead, Akshay portrated the God in a small yet impactful role that became a benchmark.
But, not many know that Akshay was never meant to play Krishna. Infact, he was quite against it, and he had his reason.
Director Umesh Shukla, who’s currently gearing up for the release of Ek Chatur Naar starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Divya Khosla Kumar, revealed a titbit about OMG in an interview with Mirchi Plus. “Akshay Kumar was not ready to play God in OMG. He said I’ll produce it but won’t act in it,” Shukla said.
Akshay’s reason for initially refusing OMG
The filmmaker revealed further how Akshay’s reason was connected with another previous 2008 movie God Tussi Great Ho’s box office failure. “That’s because few years before OMG, a film called God Tussi Great Ho came where Amitabh Bachchan played a God. He said if Bachchan sir couldn’t work as a God, how ccould he? He said he had an accent and a funny image. So, initially he was not supposed to do it.”
God with a modern twist
So how did Shukla manage to convince Akshay? “I told him this is how I see my God in the film. He’ll enter on a bike, have a swag, he’ll even use a laptop. Instead of Sudarshan Chakra we gave him a keychain to rotate. Unlike our grandfathers who wore dhotis, he’ll be a modern God, and howwould a modern God be presented today? We convinced him that if God can create everything from a dhoti to a pant-shirt, why can’t he appear in one too? He liked that idea,” Shukla shared.
“He then watched the play and the way in which God was depicted there. That’s how he ultimately said he’ll do it,” he added.
About OMG
OMG is based on the Gujarati stage-play Kanji Virudh Kanji, which itself is inspired by the Australian film The Man Who Sued God. It went on to become a box office success and Akshay’s portrayal was lauded by critics and audience alike. It paved way for its spiritual sequel OMG 2 starring Pankaj Tripathi in 2023, which also emerged a hit.