DVV Entertainment’s They Call Him OG (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; A) is the story of a former gangster — Gambheera alias OG — who returns to Bombay after a 10-year disappearance.
Gambheera, a young samurai, trains under a secret society in Tokyo and becomes the lone survivor of a massacre by gangsters. He soon pledges his allegiance to Satya Dada (Prakash Raj), who dreams of putting up a port in Bombay. After some time, Gambheera alias OG and Satya Dada part ways. But OG returns after a decade.
Sujeeth has written a routine story with not even a hint of novelty. His screenplay moves on the predictable path and doesn’t have anything new. It is laced with so many flashbacks that it gets irritating for the audience. There are at least a couple of flashbacks which could’ve been avoided to great advantage. Since new characters are introduced in the flashbacks, the drama even gets confusing at times because of the many characters. On the plus side are the entries of OG each time he needs to be present somewhere. Dialogues are routine.
Pawan Kalyan gives a fiery performance in the title role but he mainly does action scenes and gets limited scope to perform/act. Emraan Hashmi is quite good as Omi but he doesn’t get much scope to act. Priyanka Mohan is dignified as OG’s wife, Kanmani. Arjun Das makes a fairly nice impression as Arjun. But his track looks forced. Prakash Raj is good as Satya Dada; however, he gets limited scope. Sriya Reddy is earnest as Geetha. Subhalekha Sudhakar is impressive. Tej Sapru is average as Mirajkar. Sudev Nair is ordinary as Mirajkar’s son, Jimmy. Harish Uthaman has his moments as Dinanath. Rahul Ravindran is adequate as Bhadra. Abhimanyu Singh makes a fine mark as police inspector Tawde. Saurav Lokesh is okay as Shabra. Upendra Limaye lends reasonable support in a tiny role as the chief minister. Ajay Ghosh is okay. Jackie Shroff lends star value in a tiny cameo appearance. Lal is okay in a cameo appearance as Ibrahim. Others pass muster.
Sujeeth’s direction caters to the masses but his narration as well as script have precious little for the classes and family audience. Thaman S.’s music is fairly melodious. Lyrics are alright. Song picturisations are so-so. Background music is impactful. Ravi K. Chandran’s cinematography is of a fine standard. A.S. Prakash’s production designing is appropriate. Naveen Nooli’s editing is sharp, but the drama, burdened with too many flashbacks, does get boring. Dubbing is proper.
On the whole, They Call Him OG is too ordinary for the Hindi film-going audience to do anything remarkable at the box-office.
Released on 25-9-’25 at Maratha Mandir (dialy 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity & opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak at most of the places.
