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The term OG means original gangster. Someone experienced, talented, and credible in their field. In Pawan Kayan’s new film They Call Him OG, it’s also his character’s name, Ojas Gambheera. For Pawan Kalyan’s fans, it means “original god”, according to the actor-politician’s colleague in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet, Nara Lokesh.
Fans who’ve sworn unquestioning fealty to Pawan Kalyan, as if he really is a god, have been waiting to be enchanted by OG just as his older films once did.
OG is neither a remake nor a means for Pawan Kalyan to proselytise his political ideas. In the film, he speaks Japanese, wields katanas, bursts out in maniacal laughs, and spritzes blood all over the place. Fans were hoping to see the ‘OG’ Pawan Kalyan one more time before he drifted away into his political career.
All that style was supposed to have been the substance, but it just isn’t.
According to director Sujeeth, Gambheera has Japanese roots simply because Pawan Kalyan himself is fond of Japanese films, having named his son Akira after Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
Gambheera is an orphan raised in a Japanese samurai school until it is wiped out by the Yakuza (an organised crime syndicate) in 1970, leaving him the lone survivor. On a ship to India, he joins Satya Dada (Prakash Raj), a respectable and benevolent gangster who brings OG to the Mumbai port. Satya Dada raises OG like a son and OG becomes his deputy. Soon it’s 1993. OG has been in exile for years, but Satya Dada goes looking for him when his family seizes a ship from a rival gang, setting off a crisis.
However, there’s hardly any chemistry between the two actors. Prakash Raj and Pawan Kalyan stir up more drama through their spats on social media than while grieving each others’ dead relatives in the film.
At the very beginning, it’s OG’s samurai teacher who explains to the Yakuza and the audience how formidable OG is and what he’s capable of. Then, it’s Satya Dada’s main opponent, Mirajkar (Tej Sapru). Then, it’s Satya Dada’s grandson Arjun (Arjun Das). Then Arjun’s mother, Geetha (Sriya Reddy). Then a police officer in Tamil Nadu. On the off chance that there’s no one around to do the expounding, OG carries his entire lore in his backpack in the form of self-explanatory photographs and ship tickets.
Because OG is a man of few words. Too few. There’s almost no dialogue with his wife (Priyanka Mohan), his daughter, or his father figure Satya Dada. His most memorable dialogue from the film is a Japanese haiku he recites to the villain Omi (Emraan Hashmi).
Things that supporting characters don’t explain to us are overly spelt out visually.
The supporting actors are all competent but have little to lean on. Pawan Kalyan’s sword slashing, decapitations and haiku recitals alone can’t do much. The style isn’t substantial enough to redeem the film.
OG really wants to be spectacular. And for a fan, some of its moments could be. But for a common viewer, it plays out like a series of fan edits.