When you watch a movie about Mumbai being from mumbai the first thing one would want is the dialogues to be in the local language or at least the manner in which they are delivered to be of some semblance but sadly our own "Bollywood" filmmakers have done a bad job at it than someone like Danny Boyle in SDM.
To expect once upon a time in mumbai to rise to the level of Slum Dog Millionaire in terms of the story telling and the reality would be a big mistake but these days Bollywood is reaching out much wider than before and has a lot of investment flowing in as well from all quarters. So Once upon a time does deliver a lot of substance and entertainment but it still lacks the feel of being anywhere near reality as its title purports it to be.
By now everyone is aware of the story of this movie about the rise of a Robinhood like gangster inspired from Haji Mastan played by Ajay Devgan and his ardent follower turned henchman turned enemy inspired from Dawood played by Imraan Hashmi. Most of the movie was meant to be a sort of showcase of the lives of these smugglers and kingpins , their alliances and disputes as well as the struggle between them and a weak police force. All this from the point of view of a failed police officer. But some of the vulgarities are replaced with the rosiness of bollywood by focusing more on the love stories of the 2 main gangsters more than all these aspects of the story which would concern the narrator's point of view. The love story is given so much importance that the gangsters end up looking more like caricatures of a typical Tapori Romeo than being capable of becoming the heads of a crime syndicate. This is a sorely lacking pint in the character of Shuaib Khan(imraan hash mi) who is barely tolerable in any of the scenes or situations let alone displaying the sharpness or passion of the most feared Don of mumbai. Most of the times he ends up either arguing with friends or messing up with other fellow gangsters or parading his girlfriend who for some reason keeps sticking onto him despite a lack of any connection to his inner character or decency in his attitude towards her. The gullible aspect of entrusting responsibilities on Shuaib by Sultan Mirza(Ajay Devgan) seems totally unconvincing considering how much intelligent the character of Sultan is portrayed to be. If that weren't enough Shuaib's differences with Sultan are more visible to an outsider like the police inspector than Sultan himself which would make no sense at all.
The dialogues and their delivery is no doubt very powerful and at times thought provoking but it severely lacks any realism or conveys the context of the story or the intelligence of the characters. Shuaib is then forced down to appear like a leader even though none of his actions or words make him appear to be so and on the other hand Sultan falls into a betrayal that would seem so obvious to those he has dealt with shrewdly in the past. All of this weakens the story a bit along with the slow pacing of events.
I think Ajay devgan redeems this movie from a downward spiral which brings out a memorable performance in him, He completely excludes command and domination in every scene. His co-star Kagna Ranaut also delivers to her role quite believably. The other 2 co-stars do their part but again Imraan Hashmi seems a wrong choice for the role of a don. It seems like he was chosen for the lover boy side more than the gangster side of the role as most of the time he is seen pursuing a love interest than doing anything worthy of a crime head.
In summary this movie is more bollywood than a historical drama and the filmmakers did no justice to the inclusion of the name of Mumbai in the title in terms of the atmosphere.Watch it for Ajay Devgan's best performance!
To expect once upon a time in mumbai to rise to the level of Slum Dog Millionaire in terms of the story telling and the reality would be a big mistake but these days Bollywood is reaching out much wider than before and has a lot of investment flowing in as well from all quarters. So Once upon a time does deliver a lot of substance and entertainment but it still lacks the feel of being anywhere near reality as its title purports it to be.
By now everyone is aware of the story of this movie about the rise of a Robinhood like gangster inspired from Haji Mastan played by Ajay Devgan and his ardent follower turned henchman turned enemy inspired from Dawood played by Imraan Hashmi. Most of the movie was meant to be a sort of showcase of the lives of these smugglers and kingpins , their alliances and disputes as well as the struggle between them and a weak police force. All this from the point of view of a failed police officer. But some of the vulgarities are replaced with the rosiness of bollywood by focusing more on the love stories of the 2 main gangsters more than all these aspects of the story which would concern the narrator's point of view. The love story is given so much importance that the gangsters end up looking more like caricatures of a typical Tapori Romeo than being capable of becoming the heads of a crime syndicate. This is a sorely lacking pint in the character of Shuaib Khan(imraan hash mi) who is barely tolerable in any of the scenes or situations let alone displaying the sharpness or passion of the most feared Don of mumbai. Most of the times he ends up either arguing with friends or messing up with other fellow gangsters or parading his girlfriend who for some reason keeps sticking onto him despite a lack of any connection to his inner character or decency in his attitude towards her. The gullible aspect of entrusting responsibilities on Shuaib by Sultan Mirza(Ajay Devgan) seems totally unconvincing considering how much intelligent the character of Sultan is portrayed to be. If that weren't enough Shuaib's differences with Sultan are more visible to an outsider like the police inspector than Sultan himself which would make no sense at all.
The dialogues and their delivery is no doubt very powerful and at times thought provoking but it severely lacks any realism or conveys the context of the story or the intelligence of the characters. Shuaib is then forced down to appear like a leader even though none of his actions or words make him appear to be so and on the other hand Sultan falls into a betrayal that would seem so obvious to those he has dealt with shrewdly in the past. All of this weakens the story a bit along with the slow pacing of events.
I think Ajay devgan redeems this movie from a downward spiral which brings out a memorable performance in him, He completely excludes command and domination in every scene. His co-star Kagna Ranaut also delivers to her role quite believably. The other 2 co-stars do their part but again Imraan Hashmi seems a wrong choice for the role of a don. It seems like he was chosen for the lover boy side more than the gangster side of the role as most of the time he is seen pursuing a love interest than doing anything worthy of a crime head.
In summary this movie is more bollywood than a historical drama and the filmmakers did no justice to the inclusion of the name of Mumbai in the title in terms of the atmosphere.Watch it for Ajay Devgan's best performance!