Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara
Hindi (U/A) ¬¬
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonali Bendre Behl
Director: Milan Luthria
At two hours and forty minutes Milan Luthria’s sequel to Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai is not worth its time or length. With a missing-in-action plot, a more than weak script and less acting than all the acting actors put together — the rather mouthful Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara (OUATIMD) is best avoided. Simply put, the plot boils down to two gangsters falling for the same girl.
The makers attempt a make- believe, kind-of-look-alike Dawood Ibrahim in Akshay Kumar who takes forward Emraan Hashmi’s character of Shoaib Khan in the original. The effort falls flat, and not the least because Akki delivers his dialogues through the film in a tone reminiscent of one suffering from gastritis and in vain attempting flatus!
Imran Khan once again reassures audiences that acting is not for everyone. His complete lack of emotion in the role he plays (that of Aslam, a boy who owes his allegiance to Shoaib since he was rescued off the streets by the latter), is best suited for 30-second trailers. A full bodied role which demands that he stands for the woman he loves and who is also loved by his boss, should not have been handed over to Imran. Besides, he only gets beaten up for his efforts. The only saving grace is Imran’s unbridled Taiyab Ali, which retains the original’s (which starred the inimitable Rishi Kapoor in Amar Akbar Anthony) flavour and fervour.
Coming to the common love interest, Sonakshi Sinha — she indeed is the only star in the film. Bubbling with an innocence which seems too good to be true, Sonakshi’s Jasmine is not only believable but also one who lends spark to an otherwise lost-in-the-woods film. And in a film meant to be by men, for men and of men, it is unfair to expect the heroine to be its beacon of light or saviour at the box office.
As a retro romance OUATIMD is filled with smart-alec one liners which fail to impress. They may draw a laugh here or a smile there but the filmmakers have overlooked the fact that to make a retro film feel authentic, it doesn’t need forced dialogues of the 70s, which no audience will buy today.
Having entered the 21st century, Luthria should best stay here instead of glorifying a wanted man.