Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010)
"Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" (original title)

A smuggler rises to power in in 1970s Mumbai, a younger gangster seeks to overthrow him, and a police officer is caught in the middle.

Director:

Milan Luthria

Writer:

Rajat Arora

Stars:

Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda

1 win & 16 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ajay Devgn	...	Sultan Mirza
Emraan Hashmi	...	Shoaib Khan
Randeep Hooda	...	ACP Agnel Wilson
Kangana Ranaut	...	Rehana
Prachi Desai	...	Mumtaz
Avtar Gill	...	Mantri
Asif Basra	...	Sub-Inspector Khan
Gauhar Khan	...	Dancer / Singer
Arbaaz Ali Khan	...	Pathan
Imran Hasnee	...	Harish
Naved Aslam	...	Patrick
Dheerendra Dwivedi	...	Gattu (as Dhiru Dwivedi)
Ravi Khanvilkar	...	Vardhan
Mehul Bhojak	...	Javed
Sanjeev Wilson	...	Chandru

Storyline

During March 1993, after his Ambassador car is being fished out of water, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Agnel Wilson, narrates to the Commissioner as to how he commenced his investigation against an underworld gangster, Sultan Mirza. He details how Sultan had survived floods in Madras, shortly after Independence; his arrival in Bombay; and his employment which earned him a mere 25 Paisa daily. Agnel's attempts to rein in Sultan fail, but he keeps tabs on him and his romance with Bollywood actress, Rehana; as well as his new recruit, Shoaib, the son of Sub-Inspector Khan. Agnel will find his investigation slipping out of his hands after Sultan temporarily delegates complete responsibility to Shoaib.

---

Plot Keywords:

police | gangster | underworld | smuggler | 1970s | 

---

Taglines:

Rewind to the era of romance... smuggling... cabaret... mafia.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

30 July 2010 (India)

Also Known As:

Once Upon a Time in Bombay

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£54,780 (UK) (30 July 2010)

Gross:

£54,780 (UK) (30 July 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balaji Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is based on the true-life tales of Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim, the top racketeers of Bombay and the very first to be considered celebrities. Mastan ruled the Bombay gangland from the 1960s-70s, before being succeeded by Ibrahim in the 1970s-80s.

---

Goofs

In one of the scenes Sultan Mirza is shown removing the railroad tracks and the railway sleeper or railroad tie are made of concrete. These concrete sleepers were introduced in India in early to mid 90s during the 70s there used to be wooden railway sleeper or railroad tie.

---

Connections

Referenced in Ragini MMS (2011)

---

Soundtracks

"I Am In Love - Dance"
Written by Neelesh Misra
Composed by Pritam Chakraborty
Performed by Kay Kay and Dominique Cerejo
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

Excellent

Ajay Devgan rocks in this movie. a must watch movie. Excellent. You seldom get period dramas in Bollywood which are not about historical characters. This year that way has been very lucky that way. Couple of months ago we had Badmaash Company and now we have Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. Of course both are completely different from each other, the first being set in the fast 90s and the latter being set in colorful 70s. And director Milan Luthria makes enough efforts to make OUATIM look very authentic and worth a watch for its settings.

Settings apart the film has its pluses with some superb performances and great dialogs. However the problem with the film is the not so new storyline and the very slow screenplay. Though the characters are well established and well rounded the writer takes the entire first half to do that without much movement in the story. And then as you expect fireworks in the second half it fizzles out too fast.

OUATIM is the story of two gangsters. While one was ethical the other was reckless. It has inspirations of the characters of infamous smuggler Haji Mastan and now infamous don Dawood Ibrahim. The film is about Sultan (Ajay Devgn) who labored through his childhood and became a smuggler as he grew up completely ruling the sea routes. He however always preferred keeping the city clean and never smuggles which was against his conscience. Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi) is inspired by Sultan's life as a child and wants to it as big. He is a son of a police officer but has no inclination towards the law. As he grows up he makes his way to Sultan's gang and proves himself good enough to go up the ladder fast. However his reckless ambitions soon outgrew Sultan and he decided to take over the city on his own.

The story is built on the line – 'behind the myth is the city's greatest betrayal story'. The screenplay does not give much importance to the betrayal. The slow pace of the first half could be a put off. Also funnily Sultan and his girlfriend Rehana never seem to age as they continue to look the same even as Shoaib grows from a child to rustic young crook.

The film has its pluses. Luthria has taken care of everything – right from trains to cars to sunglasses to shoes to buildings! Everything takes us back to the 70s. Luthria handles the dramatic moments well and great use has been made of dialoguebaazi. All actors have come up with some memorable performances. Ajay Devgn's overpowering presence is matched by Emraan's charm. Kangna Ranaut and Prachi Desai do their bits well though they don't bear many consequences on the story itself. Randeep Hooda is effective as the police office.

Overall, 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai' is an entertainer. It does not need any effort to be understood of liked. It is the mere magic of characters created that makes this film worth watching.