Bas Dua Main Yaad Rakhna
He Looks at Her and knows instantly that She is the Hero the reflection of “Mighty Sultan” he grew worshipping . The Girl who has no Qualms in telling him off in very clear tone that she’s not scared of him, that how lonely he is at the Top, that his Strong façade is just a cover-up, that he’s probably the most vulnerable of the Lot!
That’s the Uniqueness which “Once Upon A Time in Mumbai” Series speak about- that here is a Dark Man with a Tiny bit of Conscience- to recollect the larger than life Sultan say –“Main us cheez ki smuggling karta hoon jiski ijaazat sarkaar nahin deti, uski nahin jiski ijaazat zameer nahin deta”. That here is a follower series of Deliberate Accidental Villains with a History of shunted childhood, spent in dark alleys and all that which speaks in this one liner- “mera baap toh mujhe ek daaru ki botal ke liye bech dega”.
That the Challenge is to connect the Link from Sultan to Shoaib to Aslam- that the Legacy of Sultan aka Ajay Devgan’s brilliant performance and Emraan Hashmi breaking the Stereo type for Shoaib’s role- can be brilliantly followed up by Akshay as Shoaib and Imran as Aslam. Now comes the crucial comparative analysis which the Critics will certainly go amiss with. For preliminaries to evaluate Akshay at the scale of Ajay Devgan is incorrect, Why? Coz its like comparing Haazi Mastan with Dawood- while Haazi Mastan had certain Scruples/Principals to himself, Dawood had none. For understanding these two movies would need to have a thorough background study as to what took place in the Underworld at that point of time. The Contrast between Haazi Mastan and Dawood is what puts the part one of the movie apart from the part two. Nevertheless there are traces of conscience depicted in the current scenario.
That the Risk is to show that an Emraan has grown up to become an Akshay Kumar and a Prachi has grown up to become a Sonali Bendre. Both are equally cynical about life, aware of their realities and comfortable with the Dark world now. Also a new Protagonist ironically to be introduced as the New Antagonist is much softer Imraan Khan and a common Lady Love as Sonakshi with a Fresh Approach- She’s not the laid-back-I-will-take-the-shit-women-accept-the-villain Girl/s from the First part of the Movie. She’s not a Kangana and She’s Definitely Not a Prachi.
That while viewing the Climax for Once I queried myself – “Why is Shoaib so keen on being Hit Back by Aslam? Is it retribution of sorts for his pained conscience? “
All said and done- Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara is a Risk well worth, but will not be Empathized by the Ones only looking at the Façade of the Movie.