OMG 2, the spiritual sequel to OMG – Oh My God! released on 11th August 2023. The subject matter of the film was an extremely sensitive yet important one to our society.
While the movie did extremely well at the box office, collecting around Rs. 220.49 crore worldwide and becoming the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023, however, it had many hurdles to go through.
One of them being the A certificate it got, barring practically its main audience from being able to watch it in the theatres. With the movie now finally being available on OTT, Netflix, and open for anyone to see, we take a look at the online petition that was started by the child actor of the movie itself to change its certificate.
What Does The Petition Say?
On 14th August 2023, Aarush Varma the child actor who plays the character of Vivek, Pankaj Tripathi’s son, in the film OMG 2 started a petition.
It requested the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, to change the certificate of the movie from A for Adult to U/A.
The A certificate restricted the film from being seen by those under 18 years of age and given the subject matter would be detrimental to the message of the movie.
In his online petition on Change.org, he wrote “My name is Aarush Varma. I am an actor and I played the character of Vivek in the film OMG 2. The film talks about the importance and need of sex education in schools.
The entire purpose of making this film as much as I know from my director Amit Rai Sir was to open discussions on the need of Sex Education but unfortunately, the film itself has become a subject of discussion with being given an A certificate. We were so many kids in the film and we never felt uncomfortable shooting the film.
It is a film meant for children my age and also parents who are uncomfortable talking about Sex education. This film could have been an eye-opener.
Being a 16 year old I know the issues we face and there are so many things for which we do not find the right answer.
I urge all of you to help me sign this petition so that the government reviews the stand of A certificate and make it U/A so that all my friends can see it.
Yours Aarush Varma – Vivek of OMG 2.”
Read More: Denying Adolescents The Right To Sex Education Creates A “Fool’s Paradise”: Here’s Why
So far, around 6,683 people have signed the petition with the goal being to reach signatures of 7,500 people.
The petition it seems is still being signed with people with some people commenting on it saying “Youngsters should be educated on this – else the country will be full of rapists and psychos” and how “Sex education is important for all children”.
The petition also uses the hashtag, #LetTeensWatchOMG2, to promote the movie among teens which is essentially its target audience.
OMG 2, a sequel to the hit 2012 film OMG- Oh My God made a lot of noise when it was given an A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Incidentally, a lot of people also agreed that the movie deserved to be seen by kids after they watched it themselves. As per a Hindustan Times report, Neeraj Raut, who is behind a fan club called Akkistan filed a petition under the name Unmute Sex Education: Stop censoring, Start Educating.
He wrote “More than 14K people have already signed it. By giving the film an A certificate, we’re depriving a generation of vital knowledge and perspective.
If the film gets U/A certificate, it can be screened in schools especially in B and C centres, where it’s still a taboo for parents to talk about sex with their children.”
Puneri Akkians fan page runner Girish Patil also posted “We wrote to Minister Anurag Thakur, as well as Censor board, on X. We are upset with CBFC because unhone Adipurush ke baad jo bhi hua, uske darr se itni acchi film ko A certificate de dia, so that koi controversy naa ho. They played safe.”
Even actor Govind Namdev who essayed the role of Pujari in the film called out the CBFC in a Facebook post saying, “Jo dimaag censor board ko Adipurush jaisi behuda film mein lagana chahiye tha wo unhone ‘Oh My God” jaisi thoughtful aur progressive film ko kaatne kootne mein kharch kar diya.”
He added, “It will be a wise step if Censor rectify its mistake and give at least UA certificate to let a positive revolution set in for the betterment of our society’s teenagers upbringing.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Hindustan Times, TOI, Change.org
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: OMG 2, Aarush Varma, Aarush Varma omg 2, OMG 2 petition, OMG 2 movie, OMG 2 akshay kumar, pankaj tripathi, OMG 2 ott, OMG 2 netflix, OMG 2 certificate, OMG 2 a certificate, CBFC, teen actor, Amit Rai, sex education, petition
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