Oh My God 2 director Amit Rai has rubbished Paresh Rawal’s claims that the latter gave the idea of the film but was not given the due credit. Amit has questioned the basis on which Paresh has made these claims.
He tells us, “Wo kis tathya ke adhaar pe ye keh rahe hai? First he needs to answer this. He is merely making a claim. Kehne ko to wo kuch bhi keh sakte hai. Wo bade actor hai, I cannot go up to an actor of his stature and and ask why is he saying this.”
Comparing OMG 2, which is led by Akshay Kumar, to that of raising a child, Amit says “Jaha tak mujhe yaad hai ki, us film ka janak bhi main hi hun, uska karta bhi main hi hun, school bhejne wala bhi main hi hun aur college bhejne wala bhi main hi hun.” To proof of that is the certificate from screenwriter association and the stamp that is put by the person who sees the script. It has my name.”
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The filmmaker says that he doesn’t wish to disrespect a veteran like Paresh but his claims need to be responded to by the producer of OMG 2.
“Ye unki vyaktigat rai ho sakti aur uska jawaab mujhe lagta hai ki unke aur production company ke beech mein, unke aur Akshay sir ke beech mein hoga. Maine film likhi hai aur bana di hai. Bohot jaldi jaag gaye hai wo,” Amit concludes.
What Paresh Rawal said
In a recent interview with Vicky Lalwani, Paresh had shared that he met Amit with a story idea, which was about a biker guiding a father to fight for his son.
“I had approached Amit Rai, the director of Road to Sangam, and asked him if he was planning another film. I admire him a lot. I told him, ‘I have an idea. Let’s sit and write it.’ I told him I wasn’t a writer but I could contribute ideas and help identify where we were going wrong because I understand screenplay to some extent. The story was about a boy who gets caught masturbating, and a video of the incident goes viral, making his life miserable. His father was a tourist guide at the Khajuraho temple. Amit suggested making him a part-time priest at the Mahakal Temple,” Paresh said.
The veteran actor revealed that he even approached Ajay Devgn and Salman Khan for the biker’s role but never Akshay because he didn’t want it to be perceived as OMG 2. Paresh alleged that he was later informed by Amit that Akshay wanted to make the film and tentatively title it OMG 2.
“I told Amit that I didn’t want to go ahead with it. I repeatedly told them not to make it a franchise because it wasn’t one. But they still went ahead. I told him, ‘No. This isn’t the film I had envisioned. There is no role of God in this story.’ He tried to convince me, but I had lived with the script from the beginning. That’s why I walked away,” Paresh said.
He added, “The saddest part is that I wasn’t even given credit for the story or the concept. My name wasn’t mentioned anywhere.”
