Omega Moment

Akshay Kumar rides a Vardenchi Chopper in his latest avatar as the Almighty in Bollywood's OMG. Earlier, Nicholas Gage, playing a stunt rider, used an older model for the Ghost Rider after supposedly selling off his soul to the Devil! The present hero, who is also known as the butter-loving Kishan Vasudeo Yadav, uses the million-buck motorbike to rescue a sceptical antique dealer portrayed by Paresh Rawal.

The movie, which is based on the Gujarati play, Kanaji vs Kanaji , revolves around the antics of the atheist whose shop in Chor Bazar has been flattened by an act of God. The cinematic transformation of the atheist into an activist echoes the reformation of the pacifist that has been shown in the Bhagavadgita .

But their terms of engagement are different. Unlike the murderous villains that were arrayed against Arjuna, the 'enemies' that Rawal faces off in court are some stereotypical sadhus and extremely hammy godmen. But the movie's appeal stems in the eventual 'illumination' of the sceptic into an equable Epicurean who remains serenely balanced in his reaction to praise as well as abuse.

That is indeed the mark of a true hero, whether in reel or real life. For as the Vietnamese Master of Mindfulness and Buddhist Dharmacharya Thich Nhat Hanh says, heroic solitude is not about hiding in a hut far from civilisation: it springs from a stable heart that does not get carried away by the crowd; nor is it swayed by sorrows about the past or worries about the future and not by the excitement about the present. OMG turns to 'Oh, I am God?'