Umesh Shukla reveals Akshay Kumar initially REFUSED to play God in 'OMG', claimed Amitabh Bachchan was the reason

Umesh Shukla's 'OMG', starring Akshay Kumar, courted controversy following its release. In the film, the actor played the role of Lord Shree Krishna. However, in a recent interview, the director revealed that the actor never wanted to play the role of a god and claimed that Bollywood Meastar Amitabh Bachchan was partly the reason for it.

Umesh Shukla reveals Akshay Kumar never wanted to play a God

While being on a radio show, Fever FM, Umesh Shukla talked about the making of 'OMG', which was released in 2012. When the host asked him if he faced any challenges in getting Akshay on board, he revealed that it was actually difficult to bring Akshay on board "to some extent."Shukla added, "He (Akshay) initially said no to the project, because Amitabh Bachchan had recently played God in a film called 'God Tussi Great Ho'." The director shared that since the film didn't work at the box office, Akshay felt, "If Amitabh didn't work in that role, how would he look convincing enough as a god?"Umesh then recalled telling the actor that the character of God in their film was totally different.

He added that in their film, the character of God uses a laptop and rides a bike; hence, it was different from other movie portrayals.Akshay accepted the role after he watched the play on which the film is based and saw how the audience reacted to it. Shukla also revealed that the actor realised that there was a depth to the story.He concluded saying, "It was a risky story, but it ultimately worked for us."

More about 'OMG'

Apart from Akshay, the film also starred Mithun Chakraborty and Paresh Rawal in lead roles. It also featured Om Puri, Govind Namdeo, Poonam Jhawer, Puja Gupta, and Mahesh Manjrekar in pivotal roles. The film was released in theatres on September 12, 2012. Made on a budget of Rs 20 crore, the film went on to earn over Rs 149 crore at the box office globally.