They Call Him OG is an ode to the stardom and enduring legacy of Pawan Kalyan, a film made to celebrate his larger-than-life persona. But if you walk into it expecting an engaging story, layered character arcs, or mind-bending twists and turns, you might find yourself disappointed. I can’t help but ask: how many grand entry sequences for a protagonist is too many? The makers of They Call Him OG seem to believe that every scene demands the hero’s re-entry, each more extravagant than the last. But entry sequences need a buildup, hey need the proper setup, emotional tension, and timing. When you try to recreate that same high every 15 minutes, the magic fades. The impact is dulled, and the grandeur begins to feel like repetition.
Take, for example, the iconic scene in John Wick where Viggo Tarasov explains to his son who John Wick really is: “The man you send to kill the boogeyman.” That single buildup not only defined Wick’s legend but also set the tone for the entire film. Now, imagine if Chad Stahelski had tried to replicate that in every other scene. It would have felt absurd. The audience would have been exhausted rather than exhilarated. That’s where They Call Him OG falters. In its attempt to glorify its protagonist repeatedly, it forgets that heroism shines brightest when it’s earned, and that happens when you add engaging and complex characters to the mix. The film wanted to offer so much in terms of the story that at times it didn’t make sense to me. How conveniently it establishes a connection between the samurai, the Yakuza, and the Bombay mafia was beyond my comprehension. That said, this is my perspective, my take on the movie. The film might find its audience, but clearly I am not a part of that.
Spoiler Alert
How did Gambheera come to Bombay?
Gambheera, aka the OG (Ojas Gambheer), was raised in a monastery in Japan by samurai warriors. His father had apparently fought for the Japanese in World War 2 and sacrificed his life for the country. Gambheera grew up to become the best of the lot. His dedication and his skill were unmatched, and the best thing about him was that he never misused his power. There came a time when a civil war broke out between the samurai clan and the Yakuza, i.e., the Japanese mafia. The Yakuza wanted to create their own dominion, and they knew that so long as the samurai monks were there in Japan, they wouldn’t let the mafia world thrive. The leader of the Yakuza, Kazao, killed each and every samurai apart from Gambheera. Though it is not shown at the beginning of the film, Gambheera killed Kazao, and he made sure that the Yakuza were not able to spread their empire. Such an act was obviously going to have repercussions, which we got to know at the end of They Call Him OG.
I believe Gambheera left for India before killing Kazao, and then he made a return to Japan after a few years and killed him and his gang. So after the samurai clan was wiped clean, Gambheera got onto a ship that was carrying the goods for a wealthy businessman named Satya Dada. Satya had made a fortune in Japan, but he had to leave the country, as after the civil war, the circumstances were not conducive to running a business. Satya had plans of opening a port in Mumbai so that people could get employment. Satya was a good man; probably that was why he risked his fortune and helped Gambheera escape from Japan. That day, Gambheera took a vow that no matter what happened, he would always stand alongside Satya Dada. Gambheera was a man of his word, and he proved that through his actions after he arrived in Bombay.
Why did Jimmy kill Satya Dada’s son?
Jimmy was the son of Mirajkar, who was a member of the Rashtra Vikas Dal. Jimmy was importing a huge consignment of RDX in Bombay, and it was supposed to arrive at Satya Dada’s port. There was an altercation of sorts between Jimmy and Pardhu, who happened to be Satya Dada’s son. Jimmy indeed ended up killing Pardhu, and he had no qualms about it. Jimmy didn’t even care about the consequences his actions could entail, probably because he was a reckless man. But his father, Mirajkar, knew what could happen if Satya Dada found out that it was Jimmy who had killed his son. Jimmy had contacts with criminals from the Middle East, and it was clear that he was not the one who was pulling strings. There were some other people who wanted to spread terror and incite violence in Mumbai, and they would have been successful too, had Gambheera decided not to return from his hiatus.
Why did Arjun want to kill Gambheera?
After Gambheera and Satya Dada reached Bombay, they built an empire for themselves. Satya Dada accepted Gambheera as his own son. He knew that no one else in this selfish world would have done what Gambheera did for him. Gambheera had nothing to gain from it—he wasn’t a greedy man and could have easily earned a livelihood without putting his life at risk. But then one day something unprecedented happened. Gambheera and Satya Dada got to know that Satya Dada’s son, Chakri, was smuggling drugs, and he was apparently conspiring together with Jimmy and Mirajkar. Chakri had no intention of stopping, and he, in fact, was so adamant to do what he wanted that he was ready to eliminate whoever came in his way. Geetha, Chakri’s wife, tried to instill some sense in him. She tried to tell him that he shouldn’t even think of going against his father. But Chakri didn’t listen to anybody, and so Geetha had to take extreme steps to stop him. She kicked him into a room and then gave a call to Gambheera and told him what had happened. When Geetha was making that call, Chakri asked his young son, Arjun, to pass him the gun so that he could break open the lock and leave the room. Arjun stood on a stool, but he slipped and ended up shooting his father. Arjun remained unconscious because of the fall. When he woke up, he was told that it was Gambheera who had killed his father. Gambheera took all the blame on himself because he knew that Arjun was too young to bear that trauma. I don’t know if Satya Dada was informed about exactly what had happened or if he too was kept in the dark. To be very frank, I don’t understand why Gambheera shifted to Nasik all of a sudden and stopped talking to Satya Dada. Maybe Gambheera made Satya Dada believe that he was his son’s killer, which was why he moved to a different location, or maybe he fell in love with a girl named Kanmani, which was why he built a new world for himself where nobody knew him. For the longest time, Arjun was under the impression that Gambheera had killed his father, which was why he wanted revenge. He waited for the day when Gambheera would come out of his shell, but little did he know that all he wanted was for him to have a happy childhood. Geetha had no other option but to finally reveal to Arjun what had happened. Arjun felt guilty for having hated Gambheera all his life. As they say, the greatest rival can sometimes become your greatest ally, and that’s exactly what happened with Arjun.
Was Gambheera Able To Stop Omi?
Omi was Jimmy’s elder brother, and he was one of the biggest arms dealers in the country. He came back to India after he got to know that the RDX that had reached Satya Dada’s port in Bombay had gone missing. He got to know that Satya Dada had hidden the entire consignment, and he had made it pretty clear that he was not going to give it to him at any cost. Omi worked for a man named David, who happened to be the mafia boss of the Middle East. David hurt Omi’s ego by telling him that he wouldn’t be able to do the job and should just accept that. Omi told him that he was going to get the RDX even if he had to kill Satya Dada. Omi was tracking Satya Dada’s movements, and he got to know that he was in Nasik. Satya Dada went to meet Gambheera’s wife, Kanmani, as even when Gambheera was not talking to him, she used to write letters to him. I believe it was Kanmani who told him about why Gambheera moved to Nasik and that he was the one who had killed his son (I am presuming). But Omi arrived at the scene together with his men, and he killed Kanmani in cold blood.
Omi’s act had woken up the other, and he came out of his den all guns blazing. Gambeheera not only killed Jimmy, but he also got the better of Omi and made him meet his fateful end too. Just before the bomb that killed Omi detonated, he said that he would come back to take revenge. It can be presumed that he died, but you never know these days, maybe the makers will revive his character and bring him back from the dead. Though the plan to bomb Bombay failed, the story is still not over (and I can’t help but ask why?). A man named Yakimura Shinzo went to meet David, the mafia kingpin, and he told him that Gambheera’s Japanese name was Oruchi Genshin and he happened to be a celebrated samurai warrior. He told David that he was the father of Kazao, the Yakuza leader killed by Gambheera back in the day. Yakimura wanted revenge, and so there is definitely going to be another installment of They Call Him OG. I just hope that this time around the makers do not opt for such convenient plot twists and invest some time in creating engaging character arcs.
