Exclusive | Paresh Rawal reacts to OMG 2 controversy: Akshay Kumar se meri koi problem nahi; never said Amit Rai hasn't…
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Whose story was it anyway? Oh My God 2 (2023) finds itself creating headlines as the chatter grows. It all started with star Paresh Rawal , who claimed on a podcast that OMG 2’s story was his idea, but he was not duly credited. And then, the movie’s co producer Ashwin Varde and director Amit Rai, both refuted it. In fact, Ashwin alleged that Paresh tried making a movie similar to the OMG universe under a different name, claiming the movie’s IP rights lie with him, and tried to sideline Akshay Kumar, the movie’s lead star.
Adding to this, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal When HT City reaches out to Paresh, he straightaway denies having any issues with Akshay. “Arre bhaiya, Akshay and I are doing Bhagam Bhag 2 next, which is Ashwin’s movie. Bhooth Bangla bhi ki abhi. Meri Akshay se genuinely koi problem nahi hai. Why would I? Akshay had tried to convince me to do OMG 2 as well, I told him it’s not the right subject, it won’t be palatable if we insert Gods in the middle of talking about sex in the movie. But they went ahead, the movie became successful, I am happy. Baat abhi bhi lekin vahi hai, Gods were not required in that script,” he tells us exclusively.
Meanwhile, As for Ashwin and Amit’s reactions post his statement on credit for the story, Paresh adds to us, “My relationship with Amit goes long back, he’s a hardworking, research based writer. I told him one day ‘ek idea hai, hum sex par kuchh bana sakte hain, ek chhota baccha hai, masturbate karta hai’... vahaan se baat shuru huyi. I suggested we should go and meet sexologist Prakash Kothari, since it needed scientific facts. I would not say maine likha hai, screenwriters association ke paas aapka hi naam hai (Amit’s) But when you share ideas with each other, usme concept mera tha, I was just asking for that credit, and not paisa. It just came out after many years while I was giving the interview, that I would have been happy if I would have been credited. I have never shared Amit has not written it.”
Notably, The 71-year-old questions why would he ask for a writing credit after such a long career as an star. As for Ashwin saying Paresh took OMG 2 to Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn and didn’t reveal they rejected it because OMG is Akshay’s IP, he replies to HT City, “Even our name is credited as producer on it, IP unki hai. If I really wanted to do OMG 2, I would have told Akshay. I didn’t tell him because the moment we came together, people would have assumed it’s OMG 2, which was not the case. The producer insisted, but I shared I don’t want to encash on the franchise.”
As per the latest buzz, Paresh recalls that after his refusal, stories were allegedly circulated that he was removed from the spiritual sequel because of high fees demand. “Agar mujhe paise se mohabbat thi toh kar daalta na? Also, I have not written the movie, Amit did. Lekin tidbit toh hamare aate hain na, har star koi na koi ideas deta hai. Chalo maine Amit ko 50 ideas diye, and he rejected 49. But the one he liked… you can be generous enough na? And rightfully also. I am not holding anything against what Ashwin shared. I have lots of love and compassion for Amit. Jisko jo bolna hai bol sakta hai.”
In further updates, Rishabh Suri writes for the daily Entertainment & Lifestyle supplement HT City. From Bollywood to Hollywood, from Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam films, to OTT and television- he covers it all.
Source: Hindustan Times