Cast: Akshay Kumar,
Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sophie Chowdhary, Pitobash
Tripathi, Sonali Bendre, Tiku Talsania
Director: Milan
Luthria
Bollywood has time and
again taken reference from the underworld to build in their plotlines and has
many a times irrevocably given us many memorable films too. Particularly the
70s and 80s are best known for their movies based on mafias and gangsters. Continuing
with the legacy and now rather backed by some hard-core research materials
based on Hussain Zaidi’s masterpieces on the Bombay underworld, Balaji seems to
carry forward the torch.
The latest sequel to
the 2010 hit starring Ajay Devgan and Imran Hashmi, Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai
Dobara is not just disappointing but also lame in many occasions. The main plot
of the movie revolves around the love triangle between Shoiab (Akshay Kumar),
Aslam (Imran Khan) and Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha) and is so slow and stupid that after
a point of time you will start cursing yourself for bearing this deadly
torture. The plot follows the same old bollywood clichés of a love triangle
where Shoiab is a gangster and Aslam his loyal protégé, both expectedly falling
in love with a struggling actor Jasmine. But Jasmone doesn’t know that Shoaib
is a gangster, or that Aslam works for him, or even that Shoaib has fallen for
her. Shoiab and Aslam, meanwhile, are unaware that they’re both in love with
the same girl which in short makes too many people going clueless in a single
movie.
Needless to mention
that in terms of script and cinematography there is nothing much that could be discussed.
It is as plain and naïve as any other normal bollywood film. However there are
some elements in the movie which helps you to bear it for nearly two and a half
hours. Akshay Kumar’s character with dark glasses perched permanently on his
nose and forever puffing cigarettes swaggers into the role of Shoaib, therefore
offering a perfect image of an anti-hero. A surprising cameo by Sonali Bendre
gives you a breath of fresh air as she pulls off the character very well even
after a break of such long form acting. The dialogues written by Rajat Arora
also to some extent might help you hook to the movie but in totality fails to
impress with its one-liners when compared to its earlier instalment.
Coming down to its
weak points? Well there are just too many of them to be discussed. The movie is
backed by a poor script, naïve characters and way too many unnecessary songs
which could have been easily ignored. Sonakshi Sinha as Jasmine doesn’t somehow
fit the bill. Compared to her recent terrific performance in Lootera, her
character in the movie doesn’t compliment her personality. Neither is Imran
Khan’s character as Aslam has any strong points to mention either. The plot
also doesn’t have any reference to the earlier quarter other than Sonakshi
Sinha resonating Ajay Devgan’s most celebrated dialogue ‘Bas Dua Mein Yaad
Rakhna’ which again has no significance in the movie plot. Given the plot, the
movie is too stretched at over 150 minutes and is way too predictable for the
audience to get surprised ever.
I’m going with two out
of five stars for Milan Luthria directed Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara.
Well what can I say? If you have nothing better to do this weekend and can bear two
and a half hours of brainless storytelling, go for it. Otherwise it’s a sheer
waste of money for those who made it as well as for those who intend to watch
it.
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