Young actress Anvesha Vij, who plays the role of Pankaj Tripathi's daughter, Damyanti, in OMG 2, is upset about the film receiving an 'A' certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification. Directed by Amit Rai, the film made headlines for its sensitive portrayal of the importance of sex education in Indian schools. However, it faced the wrath of censorship before its theatrical release on August 11. In an exclusive interaction with The Free Press Journal, Anvesha says it is unfortunate that teenagers couldn't watch the film.
“It was important for teenagers to watch the film. They are the ones who go through these issues and get confused. They feel uncomfortable talking about these things to their parents,” she says. “We are in a society where this subject has sadly become a taboo. It would have been great if teenagers watched this film with their parents. Nothing in the movie was shown in a bad way. It's just sad that they couldn't watch it.”
Anvesha adds, “So many people have come to me and said, ‘We want to show this movie to our teenage kids and talk to them about it.’ Through a movie, it becomes easy to build a conversation. So, if parents allow their children to watch the film when it releases on OTT, it would be a great thing. But, I still wish OMG 2 gets ‘U/A’. Sadly, it got an ‘A’ certification only in India. In fact, it should have been shown in schools.
OMG 2 recently entered the Rs 100 crore club. On the film's success, the actress says, “I'm glad that so many people are watching it and that they are accepting a new concept.” Talking about lessons she learnt from her character, the 19-year-old says, “Damyanti actually helped me explore myself as an actor because it was different from who I am. People did not even recognise me after watching the film.”
Anvesha is all praise for co-stars Pankaj Tripathi, Akshay Kumar, and Yami Gautam Dhar. Sharing her experience of working with them, she gushes, “They were so humble. I had most of my scenes with Pankaj sir. We used to chit-chat and have fun on sets. We developed a nice bond off-screen as well. I got comfortable around him and he would help me with my scenes by adding little things to make it more interesting. In fact, it did not even feel like we were working. Yami is also a wonderful actress. She was so confident. She even complimented me and coming from her, it meant so much to me. Akshay sir is also so charismatic. Whenever he used to come, the whole room used to get filled with positive vibes. He was humble, kind and also a fun person to talk to. I enjoyed meeting them and I consider myself lucky to have got the opportunity to work with them at the beginning of my career.”
