Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobara Movie Reviews

Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobara Movie 

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Imran Khan

Direction: Milan Luthria

Rating: ** 1/2'

Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobara’ disappoints on various accounts. Most of all it is the labored pace and the tedious romantic track that makes the film a boredom-inducing watch.

If you are expecting that the sequel to ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’ would be a fast-paced action thriller, then you are in for a not-very-pleasant surprise. ‘OUATIMD’ is a long winding love triangle where the protagonist and his aide just happen to be gangsters.

Shoaib (Akshay Kumar) is so busy chasing his object of affection and obsessing about her that he seems least interested in cementing his supremacy in the underworld. Akshay’s quest for both love and power is handled in such a flippant manner that neither manages to make an impact.

Akshay Kumar’s act is high on style but the portrayal falls flat. It does not have the punch that Ajay Devgn had brought on screen as the brooding Sultan Mirza (in ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’) nor does it have Emraan Hashmi’s annoying but effective flamboyance in the prequel.

Akshay mouths 70s-style filmi dialogues but they don’t help recreate any nostalgia, they are verbose and tepid instead.

Imran Khan is totally miscast. He approaches his role with complete sincerity but he grapples with a part that needs much more than what he is capable of. Imran Khan is not a bad actor but that doesn’t mean that he can pull off any role.

Aamir Khan can be convincing as an IPS officer (Sarfarosh) as well as a tapori (Rangeela), but Imran Khan does not have the same range as an actor, at least, not yet. How difficult is it for a director to understand that Imran Khan is just too suave to play a don’s right-hand man?

Sonakshi Sinha plays an aspiring starlet, trying to make a name in the film industry. We have seen her innocent village belle act too many times and that’s essentially the problem with this one too. OUATIMD’s Jasmine is not any different from Dabangg’s Rajjo. She could do this role in her sleep.

Milan Luthria has potential and he has proved this before. It is frustrating that Luthria who usually knows the pulse of his audience, seems to have just wasted this opportunity. I can’t think of one memorable moment from the film. It’s glitzy and glamorous but lacks the character of the first part.