Once Upon a Time Movie Review

While writing the movie review Once Upon a Time, we are happy to say that it follows on the big league of gangster movies that have always fascinated movie goers right from Deewar, Satya, Vaastav,Company, Shootout At Lokhandwala to a romantic-gangster movie called Gangster. This Milan Luthria directed movie is brilliant work and has its thrills and drama intact. In other word, a bang for your buck

In Once Upon a Time, a don called Sultan Mirza rises from the streets of Mumbai and becomes a don. His protégé Emraan Hashmi who follows his footsteps, then becomes his rival and challenges his supremacy. Feel free to draw parallels with Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibraham, the two dons, one dead and the other living; but the fact is the Once Upon a Time weaves human emotions and thrills in a very smart manner, of course, taking some cues from real life episodes.

Plus points of Once Upon a Time: Full marks to director Milan Luthria for coming up with a movie that deserves a round of applause. The retro mood of the 70s and 80s have been worked in great detail and you can find art director Nitin Desai’s best work here. The screenplay is taut, the narrative is perfect and the scenes blend beautifully, certifying the fact that Milan Luthria have given his best as a director. The screenplay by Rajat Aroraa is praiseworthy, the dialogues are arresting and will be mouthed by ‘bacha bachas’
Pritam has held his own ground in this gangster movie. Fresh from the success of Khatta Meetha, Pritam comes with an outstanding in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. Three songs particulary get a mention, 'Pee Loon', 'Tum Jo Aaye' and the remix of APNA DESH. The editing of the movie is top as well and the credit goes to Akiv Ali. As for the cinematography, you can only sit back and say ‘wow’ to Aseem Mishra. Yes, believe it or not, after 3 Idiots, here we come across a movie called Once Upon a Time, which is technically perfect, all of them doing a classy job behind the camera.

Minus points of Once Upon a Time: There are minor aberrations in Once Upon a Time like the scene, where Randeep Hoonda, the police inspector goes to commit suicide without the reasons being mentioned The pace of the movie post second half is slow but thankfully, it picks up superbly during the confrontation scene between Hashmi and Devgn. A little shorter length would have made the movie a masterpiece.

Performances in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai: We had put a poll about which was Ajay Devgan’s best performance. All that may change now because Ajay Devgn’s best performance arguably, is in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. Though his role is similar to the one he did in Company, in this movie, it has a better shade and he exploits it like no one else’ business. Emraan Hashmi’s too has given his best performance in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. An under-rated actor for sure, he is one actor who has always delivered and typifying him just by the serial kisser title is doing him injustice. Watch him emote in the penultimate scenes in the film and you realize that he has delivered a master-stroke. Emraan excels in the character of Sohaib, a wickedly ambitious guy.

The women do just as well.
Kangna Ranaut shows oodles of sex appeal that remind us of the charm of the bygone era. She brings to the table an inspiring performance. Prachi Desai does a good job as Emraan Hashmi’s girlfriend and she sizzles in the Bobby track. Both the girls share a very good chemistry with the leading actors. Gauhar Khan gets a special appearance in the remix track and makes a mark. 

Conclusion: Overall, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai is scintilliating. Go Get Your Ticket.
Rating:****(Very Good)