Milan Luthria’s lame attempt to recreate and better his original 2010 hit film bites the dust.
Once upon a time in Mumbai, when gangsters were heroes, there lived a mafia king called Shoaib Khan (Akshay Kumar). He was a charismatic man with womanising expertise. Milan Luthria directed Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara revolves completely around this don and the characters played by Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan are only secondary.
Akshay Kumar’s dialogues delivery is a saving grace for this slow paced movie that revolves around a story where two men fall for the same woman. Every dialogue said by Akshay receives a thunderous response from the audience. However, only his villainous presence is the sole charm of the movie. The rest is predictable, and therefore becomes a drag.
Movie is said to be crime gangster film, but the movie would have been good with a little more action. Although everyone loves some chemistry on screen, the romantic angle to this underworld life gets quite boring at some point. Imran Khan and Sonakshi have done decent job, but somehow they do not seem like the central characters in the film.
Story
The tagline of the movie says ‘This time it’s personal’ and yes, we do see a lot more than crime and killing. When Shoaib’s passion for Jasmine grows into something more, there arises a rift between the young Aslam and godfather Shoaib. The two vie for Jasmine’s love.
Once upon a time in Mumbai is set in the 1980s of Bombay, where Shoaib’s sole interest is the supremacy of Mumbai, but his heart is swayed by a lovely lady called Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha). In the movie, Shoaib is like a godfather to Aslam (Imran Khan). Aslam was spotted by Shoaib during one of his visits to the slums.
The tagline of the movie says ‘This time it’s personal’ and yes, we do see a lot more than crime and killing. When Shoaib’s passion for Jasmine grows into something more, there arises a rift between the young Aslam and godfather Shoaib. The two vie for Jasmine’s love.
Performances
Akshay Kumar: He plays the role Shoaib Khan, a flamboyant bad guy. Akshay lives like a king in the movie. He returns as villain after 12 years. He was last seen as the bad guy in Khiladi. Akshay brings his character alive with the dialogues and style. For a change, we enjoy watching the bad guy say lines such as ‘Peene ki capacity, jeene ki strength, account ka balance aur naam ka kauff kabhi bhi kam na hona chahiye’. In the movie, Shoaib says that he is not a player, but the game itself, and here we have Akshay who is more or less the story himself.
Sonakshi Sinha: This beautiful actress plays the role Jasmine who is an innocent starlet. Although the movie’s actors are swayed by her, the audiences are not awed by her. Her performance is fine, but her presence seems minimal in the movie. She somehow doesn’t grab eyeballs this time.
Imran Khan: Imran Khan is Aslam in the movie and is an ambitious young lad. He starts off pretty well by giving us some good action and chase in the train scene. However, neither his love story nor his lines sway us.
Verdict
Director Milan Luthria has tried his best in the movie set-up and given us a picture of the 80s, but fails in some aspects. He has focused only on Ashay Kumar. Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara makes gangsters the heroes and for once you don’t mind that. It is often said that for a movie to become a hit, you need five good dialogues and here you have plenty. However, don’t expect the movie to take you on a jolly ride, it is quite slow paced.
Once upon a time in Mumba has a bit of love, melodious music, dashing dialogues and action and yet there is something lacking in the film. However, one could watch the movie for some kickass dialogues from Akshay Kumar. So put on those shades and suits from the 80s and get ready to escape to an underworld love story.
