While the Ajay Devgn starer Once Upon a Time in Mumbai scored for its plot that had things resembling to reality, the sequel Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara, fails to create any such impact. While Sultan Mirza and Shoaib Khan played it for power, this second episode deals with an egoistic love of the underworld don. The charm in the dialogs demanded a better cast and thus this gangster stuff ends up as an average entertainer.
After finishing the rule of Sultan, Shoaib is now abroad and is keen on getting control over Mumbai. Among the four who ruled Mumbai, he manages to settle things with three gangsters and the deeds by the fourth one who wasn’t willing to accept Shoaib’s terms, force him to come to India. Aslam is a smart young lad from Mumbai who works for Shoaib. The movie basically deals with the happenings after Shoaib’s arrival in Mumbai. Milan Luthria sets the conflict zone here with the entry of an innocent upcoming actress into the lives of these two gangster minds.
The film kicks off pretty smartly by showing the attitude of Aslam and the power and influence of Shoaib in the required level. With those stylish dialogs of the leading character to justify his negative deeds and attitude, the first half is pretty much on the enjoyable side. Where the movie fizzles is in its second half where the Gangster goes mad about his relationship with Jasmine. There is nothing surprising about the events to follow and the romance of either the antagonist or protagonist doesn’t look deep. Too much emphasis on this brittle love bonding over the expected Gangster saga is what that derails this thriller from its destination.
Akshay Kumar is partly convincing as the matured Shoaib. The long addressing style ( Javed… , Aslam…) sounds too much for a style factor. He was convincing, but that crookedness which was visible in Emraan Hashmi was missing here. The other disappointment was Imran Khan who looks like a total misfit as the rising gangster. His tapori avatar just isn’t that macho and this tale really demanded someone who looks tough and romantic. Sonakshi Sinha did a good job as Jasmine and the innocence never went to an exaggerated level (thanks to some dialogs). Sonali Bendre doesn’t have much to do as Mumtaz.
In terms of making, Milan Luthria follows that style of keeping the environment in that semi real region. The screenplay as I said is not a tiring one. But it’s the lack of quality surprises that makes it a downer. The dialogs that had this ethics vs attitude charm literally make this movie enjoyable and a special appreciation for the writer for that. Even though they tried to keep it interesting by making Aslam a bit anxious, the ending just couldn’t satisfy the attitude level we expected. Art direction was good and the stunts were also performed nicely. Cinematography is ok. The music isn’t that catchy as the first part and some songs aren’t in sync with the narration.
Overall, Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara lacks the gangster feel. My rating is a 2.5/5 for this watchable flashback. As they have changed the whole cast in this sequel, I hope they would do the same if they intent to do a third part.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
