Ohh My Dog

Ohh My Dog Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Geeta Agarwal Sharma, Mahi Rai, Pawan Malhotra, Sulakhyana Baruah, Oscar the Dog, Bruno the Dog

Director: Amit Rai

What’s Good: It’s a love story of dog and man.

What’s Bad: The film could perhaps have been 10 minutes shorter, but that’s a minor nitpick.

Loo Break: As the format is that of a thriller, avoidable!

Watch or Not?: We are animal lovers, and animals love us too, so yes.

Language: Hindi

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 150 Minutes

User Rating:

The story runs on two tracks. After a brief but moving vignette in Mumbai of the funeral of a police dog, Senapati, and his unknown sacrifices, we move to Bihar and Assam. In Assam, Apu (Maahi Rai)’s dog, Momo (played by Oscar the Dog), goes missing even as the two are playing one morning. The local SHO, Yusuf (Vijay Vidyadhar Mishra), reassures the kid, who is very computer-savvy, that he will find him. But with a heavy heart, he explains to Apu’s equally distraught mother (Geeta Agarwal Sharma), that dogs are being smuggled by a tribe for consumption and chances are bleak. Apu’s teacher, Krishna (Sulakhyana Baruah), also misses him, and together they decide to investigate in a very ‘today’ digital way, reminding me of how the character of Pritam did incredibly well with his gadgets (phone and laptop there, phone and iPad here) in the recent Pritam and Pedro.

In Bihar, a poor young man, Prince (Nikhil Kumar), suddenly goes missing. His faithful dog, Oscar (played by dog Bruno), senses something amiss and follows his scent. Prince’s friends rally around his bereaved parents and sisters and entreat their Masterji (Pankaj Tripathi) for help. They approach the local ‘daroga’ (inspector) played by Rajesh Kumar. What everyone does not know that there is a kidney racket going on in the city and the daroga and his men are in cahoots with the gang as they also receive their share so that they can look the other way.

The two stories run in parallel and never intersect, and tensions build up even as Apu goes to impossible odds to save Momo, while Oscar leaves no ‘smell’ unturned to locate Prince and, when the crux comes, issues an incredible summons to his fellow creatures as a back-up!

Ohh My Dog Movie Review: Script Analysis

Co-producer and director Amit Rai has himself penned the watertight script and the very grounded filmmaker-writer still enlists Jia Saxena as script supervisor. Racy, thrilling, and yet emotionally riveting, the film never descends into the melodramatic or loopy but maintains pace even as it shows how deep the love is for human beings by dogs—and vice-versa. Apu’s mindset is clear—he just wants his dog back, alive and safe. Oscar’s intent is equally ‘dogged’—to reunite an unharmed Prince with the people he loves and with Oscar himself!

By Indian movie standards, wholesome animal movies have come in very rarely. And in sheer emotional wallop and entertainment quotient, this is the first script I recollect after Haathi Mere Saathi, all of 55 years ago. That film became a mega-buster, aided by a nascent superstar and chartbuster music, but this movie, with the right marketing and promotion, has the potential to reach similar levels of resonance at the box office, especially in the post-Dhamaal 4 famine.

Ohh My Dog Movie Review: Star Performance

Rai favourite Pawan Malhotra, comes in late as the mercurial but honest cop but is proficient as usual. Pankaj Tripathi has a staid role with nothing much to do, while Geeta Agarwal Sharma is superb as Apu’s mother, who constantly prays for Momo’s safety. As the blackguard cops, Vinay Vidyadhar Mishra and Rajesh Kumar emerge truly hateworthy. Sulakhyana Baruah is a welcome import from Assam and is a thoroughly likable teacher. The (human) supporting cast is very competent, and the two canines—the impeccably trained Bruno (as Oscar) and Oscar (as Momo)—are naturally effective.

Maahi Rai, Amit Rai’s son, makes a confident debut as Apu. He is ardentness personified, is also cute whenever necessary and steals the show in the car chase sequences featuring a stalwart like Pawan Malhotra. And our hearts go to him when he desperately hollers for his dog, especially in the initial search, and when he sheds silent tears of grief, uncertain whether his hopes will be contradicted with ghastly reality.