Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai

Its a tale of 1970s, an era of Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim when Mumbai was controlled by underworld. The movie shows different shades of two peo... read more

Its a tale of 1970s, an era of Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim when Mumbai was controlled by underworld. The movie shows different shades of two people, Sultan Mirza (depicted as Haji) and Shoaib Khan (depicted as Ibrahim) having different morals and principles of life. Sultan (Ajay Devgan) is the King of Mumbai and voice for a common man. Though hes an underworld don but still hes having his own set of rules and morals. He really believes that if a thing can be sorted out with friendship, whats the need to make a foe. On the other hand, Shoaib ( Emraan Hashmi) is an absolute apposite of Sultans ideologies. His only aim is to become the most powerful underworld Don either by hook or by crook. Their irreconcilable views create a rift between them, which marks the end of peace in Mumbai. Under this entire violence, bloodshed, betrayal and gang wars lies a charismatic love story of two dons. An interesting match of gangster (Sultan) with Diva (Rihana by Kangana Ranaut) has created magic. Shoaib is not far behind with his and Mumtazs (Prachi Desai) mushy love story.

I would say Kudos to director Milan Luthria who made such an intense film with so much finesse. Once Upon A Time In Mumbai has evolved as a new way of representing Mafia gangs. There are numerous WoW factors in the movie such as excellent script, power-packed dialogue delivery, bold one-liners, slapstick humor, breathing life into character performances and amazing background score. Music given by Pritam is like icing on the cake. Nothing was out of place; Total Paisa Wasool; Complete Entertainer Been long since your eyes saw some good cinema, its time to give them a treat!!!
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Do real-life stories measure upto their reel-life interpretations? When fact becomes fiction how do you differentiate the two? The manner in which ... read more

Do real-life stories measure upto their reel-life interpretations? When fact becomes fiction how do you differentiate the two? The manner in which fact becomes a larger than life legend on the silver screen always seems to suggest a certain lack of ability in us as people to accept simple truths which might be far from glamorous thus not exactly appealing to our Hero-Worship sensibilities.

Director Milan Lutharia (Taxi No.9211, Hattrick) has accepted and denied in the same breath that the story of Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (whats with the extra a? An Ekta Kapoor thing?) is based on the relationship between underworld dons Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim. While the plot incorporates many events & instances from their lives do not take it as an accurate account by any margin.

The story is almost entirely narrated in flashbacks by an Inspector, Agnel Wilson (Randeep Hooda) who tells about the rise of Dawood Ibrahim and the fall of Haji Mastan during the 1970s. The movie spends an inordinate time setting up the two characters, which would have worked better if less time would have been spent on their respective love stories and more time on their shady dealings. The unfocused script slackens the pace & leads ultimately to an abrupt climax that lacks any palpable tension & doesn't tie up some of the loose ends either. Just look back at the gritty, no-holds-barred style of Company (2002); which not only gave us well-defined characters & relationships but took us to the beating heart of darkness, the underworld possesses, all without romanticizing the players. Here I barely picked up any nitty-gritty about the modus-operandi of people who the movie claims, once ruled over Mumbai.

This friendship forged by two people from similar backgrounds but with entirely different set of ethics could have made for a fascinating character study. However the movie is more interested in romanticizing the characters & their lifestyles. So you have a constant verbal volley of dialogues which I doubt any person can utter on a regular basis forget on a minute to minute basis. Each of these dialogues is designed to elicit a clap, whistle or cheer from the audience but honestly it gets tiresome after sometime. Worse when a side-character actually takes the trouble of deciphering in plain language what metaphorical mumbo-jumbo was uttered by the leads; you'd literally be shaking your head in disbelief.

The 70s setting feels more like a costume party and barely any of the locations feel authentic. The way the movie is shot suggests an uneasy fusion of retro styling with current day sensibilities. Not to say that they haven't worked on the costumes & other art from the era but somehow it just doesn't come off as utterly convincing. Of the songs 'Pee Loon' is a breezy romantic number that's the most likely to be remembered of all songs while 'Babu Rao' has shades of 'Ganpat' from 'Shootout at Lokhandwala'.

The acting overall by most of the cast is the real ace held by the movie. Ajay Devgn is reliably gruff & intense as ever. Randeep Hooda was the one actor who really leaves a strong impact. The guy has a very commanding screen presence without having to try too hard. Prachi Desai pulls off her vulnerable character convincingly while Kangana Rananaut still needs to work on her diction. Emraan Hashmi's interpretation of Dawood Ibrahim is far too similar to any cocky, ambitious & flirtatious character hes played right from 'Footpath' to 'Jannat'.

As it stands 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai' is sporadically entertaining with oodles of style but ultimately an unsatisfying and unsubstantial watch.
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The genre revolving around gangsters and mafia has always been bollywoods favorite terrain. More than dozens of scripts are stitched with these rac... read more

The genre revolving around gangsters and mafia has always been bollywoods favorite terrain. More than dozens of scripts are stitched with these racketeers playing the central character. While few manage to catch the audiences pulse, others get lost into oblivion as soon as it hits the marquee. Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (hereby referred as OUATIM) smuggles itself in which category, lets have a sniff.

The Captain of the ship called OUATIM is a man who has always flattered to deceive; Milan Luthria has shown glimpses of brilliance sporadically in his craftsmanship but was never able to stretch that to totality. Whether it is his debut vehicle Kacche Dhaage or Taxi no. 9211 or for that matter Deewar, all are fine examples of tall promises going haywire. Sadly, OUATIM is no different. It has its fair share of moments but at the end it leaves moviegoers craving for more. This underworld stung melodrama kicks off in style, traverses through few peaks and umpteen valleys, eventually meeting a tame end. There was hardly any surprise factors with extended lull in Woww moments. It seems Milan was caught in quandary whether to showcase the bitter-truth of Haji Mastan-Dawood Ibrahim saga or a fictional-tussle-for-power between two desperados- Sultan and Shoaib. The final product was nothing beyond a Wada-Paav of twisted facts and stale predicaments.

There are few scoring points for the flick as well; strong acting performances being the first. Ajay Devgn had again shown his mettle in serious roles and gave ample of testimony of the fact that his eloquent eyes compliments his power-punched dialogue delivery to the tee. Imran Hashmi comes out of his serial-kisser image (though he resisted the temptation, just by a whisker) and provides full justice to the pivotal role. Highly underrated, this guy is better actor than likes of Fardeens, Zayeds, Aftabs and so on. Randeep Hooda does a decent job in an extended guest appearance. Prachi Desai looked pretty; compliments end there itself, as her vague role defies logic and crawls the pace of the movie, throughout. Kangna made her first appearance with swollen upper lips after her much touted alleged lip-augmentation, went awfully wrong. She was in similar form as few of his earlier flicks; nothing to rave about, I presume.

Songs and dance routine were kept to minimum which works well with the pace of any action drama. Pee loon, without a tinge of doubt, was the best song of the album; mellifluous voice of Mohit Chauhan wands magic yet again. Innocuous tracks like Tum Jo Aaye, BabuRao and Parda flows well with the movie. Special mention for Rajat Arora who has penned dialogues for the flick and extracts whistles and appreciations, intermittently. Art Director Nitin Desai deserves a pat on the back with re-creation of Bombay of 70s (Apologies ShivSena for committing crime by referring Mumbai as Bombay).

Maverick Verdict: RGV holds the formula for churning successful epics on third worlds Few Good Men. Just dont expect any Satya or Company in the making because in all probability you might feel let-down by an insatiable execution of a plotline worth gold-dust. If you could just lower the bar of expectation, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai might prove a worthy One Time Watch. Otherwise, rent out DVD of any of the Factorys classics and STAY IN PEACE!!!


* Watch it at your own risk.

** Wait for the DVD, instead.

*** Could have been better.

**** Watch it for all money.

***** One of the Must Watch before you die.
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The day this movie was released, I was standing outside a multiplex in Kanpur. There were approximately 50 school and college going boys along with... read more

The day this movie was released, I was standing outside a multiplex in Kanpur. There were approximately 50 school and college going boys along with me. As soon as the mall opened, the
entire bunch ran inside, and rushed to the ticket booking counter. The feisty lad standing in
front screamed, "Bhaiya, Dawood waali film ke 5 tkt dena !" (give me 5 tkts of the Dawood movie)

This single instance is enough to negate all claims by the makers denying resemblances to Dawood
Ibrahim and Haji Mastan. And to think of it, they are just being politically correct - after all, their
target audience is there to watch a biopic, not a story.

Let us start by drawing parallels - Mastan Mirza (or Haji Mastan) was an erstwhile smuggler, who
used to work on the docks, wore designer white suits, rode in a chauffeur driven Mercedes,
courted a Bollywood starlet, and finally joined a political party. So does Sultan (Ajay Devgn).
As for Dawood Ibrahim, he started out with an electronics goods shop given to him by Haji
Mastan, had a policeman for a father, and worked with Mastan during his earlier days. All this
hold true for Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi) too. The movie also depicts the Tamil Don Vardabhai, Haji Mastan's staunch friend and confidante, although not entirely truthfully.

Amidst the flowery dialogues, the movie runs somewhat like this - Sultan is a smuggler with a
heart of gold - he smuggles precious metal and electronic items through the sea route, and helps the poor (our Desi Robin Hood !). He hobnobs with the elite, and romances Rehana (Kangana
Ranaut), a popular bollywood actress. Enter Shoaib, a small time thief, who is planted into
Sultan's life by Inspector Agnel (Randeep Hooda). However, Shoaib has ambitious plans, and he
double crosses the police to become Sultan's most trusted man, proving his worth more than once
- from crafting plans to smuggle gold under Mumbai Police's noses, to weeding out moles in their
outfit. Sultan trusts Shoaib with his work when he goes out of the city, only to be betrayed
once he returns...

The movie bears uncanny resemblances with Company - even the cast has a common face (Ajay Devgn gets a promotion - ironically, he played Dawood in the previous movie, and plays Haji Mastan here). However, the female leads had meatier roles in the previous saga - Prachi (playing Shoaib's love interest, Mumtaz) and Kangana have been simply reduced to eye candy. Ajay Devgn excels, proving once again that he is on home ground - comedy never brings out the best in him. As for Emraan Hashmi, in his own style - "Janaab aap acting chhod hee deejiye, warna audience bura maan jaayegi ! :-) "

Worth watching - if only for the stylized dialogues ! view less

Milan Luthria teams up with Rajat Arora again after Taxi 9211. If you can remember Taxi 9211 did have its moments of brilliance. OUATIM is no diffe... read more

Milan Luthria teams up with Rajat Arora again after Taxi 9211. If you can remember Taxi 9211 did have its moments of brilliance. OUATIM is no different. Although the movie had the legs to finish as a winner, it does not end up being a fabulous affair. Having a catchy title and a gripping pace only helped the movie's cause.

The story mainly shows the uprise of two gangsters in mumbai. Sultan Mirza, played by devgn, is the 70s Robin Hood whereas Shoaib, Emran Hashmi, has mean streak to his repertoire. All goes bad for Mirza, when the new cop in town, played by Randeep Hooda, decides to take him down.

The character of Sultan Mirza is loosely based on Haji Mastan. Ajay Devgn puts in an honest effort but one could not help but draw comparisons from Company. It was a pleasant surprise to see Emran Hashmi out of the Bhatt camp and play a slightly different role than his previous ones. The girls, Kangana and Prachi did not have much scope but were good in whatever they did. Randeep Hooda was powerful in his cameo.

The background score is the hero of this movie. Its too good. The music by Pritam is easy on the ears. A couple of songs are Ipod playlist material.

Milan Luthria has delivered a better performance than his previous but I guess RGV has just set the standards for gangster movies a little higher. A special mention for the art and continuity directors, a great job in creating the 70s look and feel. All in all OUATIM a good watch but don't expect great things.
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