They Call Him OG

They Call Him OG (simply OG) is a 2025 Telugu crime action drama written and directed by Sujeeth, with Pawan Kalyan as Ojas Gambheera, a retired gangster who returns to Bombay in 1993 after a decade away to face the crime lord Omi Bhau (Emraan Hashmi). It opened in theatres on 25 September 2025, runs 154 minutes, carries an “A” certificate, and has streamed on Netflix since 23 October 2025.

What the story is about

The film opens in 1970s Japan, where a young Ojas Gambheera survives an attack on a samurai dojo and boards a ship to Bombay. There he comes to protect Satya Dada (Prakash Raj), a businessman building a private port in Colaba. Years later, in 1993, a killing at the port by Jimmy, the son of Satya Dada’s rival, creates a power vacuum that draws in Omi Bhau, and the long-absent Gambheera is pulled back into the city’s gang war. The film is staged as a stylised gangster saga with sword fights alongside gunfights; we stop at the set-up here.

Cast and characters

• Pawan Kalyan as Ojas Gambheera “OG”
• Emraan Hashmi as Omi Bhau, in his Telugu debut
• Prakash Raj as Satya Dada
• Priyanka Mohan as Dr. Kanmani, Ojas’s wife
• Arjun Das as Arjun and Sriya Reddy as Geetha
• Sudev Nair as Jimmy and Shaam as Chakri, Satya Dada’s elder son
• Harish Uthaman as Dheena, Rahul Ravindran as Bhadra and Abhimanyu Singh as Inspector Tawde
• Jackie Shroff as Narantak, Satya Dada’s younger brother, and Subhalekha Sudhakar as Dharani

Crew and music

• Writer-director: Sujeeth; producers: D. V. V. Danayya and Kalyan Dasari (DVV Entertainment)
• Music: Thaman S, in his fourth film with Pawan Kalyan after Vakeel Saab, Bheemla Nayak and Bro
• Cinematography: Ravi K. Chandran and Manoj Paramahamsa; editing: Naveen Nooli; production design: A. S. Prakash

The film was announced in December 2022 and shooting began in Mumbai in April 2023. Filming was paused for months during Pawan Kalyan’s 2024 Andhra Pradesh election campaign and his later duties as Deputy Chief Minister, and wrapped in July 2025. Its songs include “Firestorm”, “Suvvi Suvvi”, “Trance Of Omi”, “Guns N’ Roses” and the Japanese-language “Washi Yo Washi”.

Release and reception

OG was first dated for 27 September 2024 but was postponed and finally released worldwide on 25 September 2025. Reviews were mixed: most critics enjoyed the style and the star’s screen presence but found the story familiar. Divya Shree of The Times of India (3/5) called it “a stylish action drama with flair” despite undercooked subplots, and Swaroop Kodur of The Indian Express (3/5) described it as made “for hardcore fans, by a hardcore fan himself”. Neeshita Nyayapati of Hindustan Times (2.5/5) said the story had been seen “a million times before”, and Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu felt it prioritised “style and fan service over substance”.

On box office, The Indian Express reported that the film crossed ₹150 crore worldwide on its first day, and News18 reported a worldwide total of ₹293.65 crore at the end of its theatrical run. Other outlets put the final figure close to ₹300 crore, so treat totals as reported estimates rather than audited numbers.

Where to watch They Call Him OG

OG streams on Netflix. It started streaming on 23 October 2025 in Telugu, with Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam dubbed versions. A sequel, They Call Him OG II, was teased in the end credits and officially announced in June 2026.

More Telugu films like this on Tollywood Desk: Mass Jathara, Daaku Maharaaj, HIT: The Third Case.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on They Call Him OG and the reviews it summarises; box office from The Indian Express and News18; our own cast, crew, release and OTT records.