It’s hard to dissect the good bits from the average because each scene is an event by itself and as you’d expect, not all hit a high. And those who are not familiar with India were to see this film, they’d not think it as a period movie, but rather a representation of how India might be now. For people who watch Bollywood films all the time, this is a major letdown. Instead we’re presented with locations that we’ve seen in many other films, simply redressed a little. Take for example the production design – we see evidence of the 70s – cars, currency, clothes – but there are no cityscapes (cheating the Marine Drive at night doesn’t count), exterior establishing shots, or any little touches that are not on the character. Because the film stays so close to its characters, there is precious little else to look at. He is just in such a tearing hurry to tell us the dizzying story of the rise and fall of Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgn) and the rise and rise of his protege Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi) – what with the inane one-liner upon one-liner – that he doesn’t take a breath for the audience to appreciate the world he attempts to create. Luthria, however, falters with the direction. Even more galvanizing for the crew would’ve been the music – all that was left to do was shoot the damn thing and create a memorable film. The one-liners, the seamless interweaving of the love angles in a hardcore gangster genre film, the song situations, the choices made with structure… outstanding. There is no question that the final bound script presented by Rajat Aroraa must’ve been a real inspiration for all involved – actors, producers, the creative crew.
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, the highly romanticized telling of the rise of Haji Mustan and Dawood Ibrahim is replete with such creativity – mostly to do with Kangna Ranaut’s myriad hairstyles – and its dialogue so infused with metaphors, it’s like Shakespeare with logorrhea. Milan Luthria takes a shot at immortality in creating an urban legend on the origin of the word ‘supari’, as the young Dawood, sorry, Shoaib takes his first job as a hitman and promises the betel-chewing client that delivery of the nut is proof of the job done.
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