EXCLUSIVE: Vidya Balan was to be a part of Akshay Kumar’s OMG 2, director Amit Rai reveals

It was the year 2012 when Akshay Kumar’s OMG – Oh My God! released and raised several eyebrows. It was a satirical comedy-drama based on how blind faith in God will take us nowhere. Now after 11 years, the makers got back with OMG 2 which released on August 11 and well, it’s as promising. Starring Akshay along with Pankaj Tripathi, Yami Gautam, Pavan Malhotra and Arun Govil, the sequel is directed by Amit Rai. It talks about a very important issue that still very much exists in our society. OMG 2 is a story of a man’s fight for the right to education for his son.

Vidya Balan was Amit Rai’s first choice for Yami Gautam’s role

Recently, director Amit Rai sat down for an interesting conversation with Bollywood Bubble. The filmmaker talked about the casting of the film and revealed that it was actually Vidya Balan who was his first choice to play the role of Kamini Maheshwari who was brilliantly played by Yami Gautam. Amit said that things didn’t work out with Vidya and hence, he approached Yami who was then his only choice for the role. The director said, “Ek hi casting mujhe nahi mil payi. Mai pehele Vidya ji ko soch raha tha uss character ke liye. Kyuki vo agar baat karegi na toh vo anti-casting hai bilkul. Aapko jhatka dega ki yeh aise kaise baat kar rahi hai kyuki vo har topic pe bindaas baat karti hai. Toh agar vo aise baat karegi toh audience ko lagega ki yaar yeh kaise baat kar rahi hu. Toh Vidya aur Yami hi mere dimaag mai aaye the, inke alawa mere dimaag mai koi tha hi nahi.” (There was just one casting that I could not get. I was thinking of Vidya Balan for the role of Kamini Maheshwari. If she had taken up the role, it would have looked like an anti-casting. People would be shocked to see how is she talking like this when she talks about every topic without hesitating even once. So, Vidya and Yami were in my mind for this particular role, no one else.)

Vidya-Yami

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How Yami Gautam agreed to be a part of OMG 2

He added. “Pehela (Vidya Balan) jab miss hogaya, kisi kaaran nahi hua jab dusre (Yami Gautam) ko pucha, maine socha agar yeh bhi mana kardengi toh mujhe yeh character ko badal ke male karna padega firse jaise pehele bhaag mai Mahesh Manjrekar ne kiye tha. Lekin mujhe aurat hi chhaiye thi aur Kamini hi naam chahiye tha. Lekin sunne ke baad, mujhe laga Yami mana karengi par unhone bola mere liye yeh role bahot negative hai, maine aisa kuch kaam kiya nahi hai lekin unhone jo baat ki vo mujhe humesha yaad rahegi. Unhone kaha ki mai yeh film isiliye karungi kyuki yeh film bahot zaroori hai.” (When Vidya’s casting didn’t work out due to some reason, I asked Yami Gautam. I thought to myself that if she also says no then I will have to change the character to a male one just like it happened in the first part with Mahesh Manjrekar. But I wanted a woman to play this part and I wanted her name to be Kamini. When Yami heard the script, I thought she would reject it. She said the role was very negative for her and she had never done something like this but then what she said – I will always remember it. She said I will do this film bevause it’s a very important film.)

Yami

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 OMG 2 released on August 11 is still running strong at theatres. The total collection of the film now stands at around Rs. 135 crores.

Also Read: OMG 2: UNCUT version of Akshay Kumar starrer to have release on OTT

Rashita Sahni

I make celebrities talk, laugh & spill the tea!
Film & Fashion Journalist | Bombay