We all know the sad story about sequels. It's like the little brother of the celebrity, who's labeled
unfortunate even before he's born, from the time he's been conceived. There is that consistent challenge to live up to the elder sibling's achievements, to answer the social expectation on a regular basis, while struggling to carve out a niche of his own. Funnily enough, we've observed many movies in our film industry dealing with this unfair social treatment of blood relations with unequal talent, so to speak. It might have been a father and a son, sibling rivalry or even a husband and a wife. They all had their own versions to tell; so I wonder if ever prequels and sequels had to have a human transformation, what would they have to say, or more pertinently, who would care to listen?
unfortunate even before he's born, from the time he's been conceived. There is that consistent challenge to live up to the elder sibling's achievements, to answer the social expectation on a regular basis, while struggling to carve out a niche of his own. Funnily enough, we've observed many movies in our film industry dealing with this unfair social treatment of blood relations with unequal talent, so to speak. It might have been a father and a son, sibling rivalry or even a husband and a wife. They all had their own versions to tell; so I wonder if ever prequels and sequels had to have a human transformation, what would they have to say, or more pertinently, who would care to listen?
Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara is not excused from that curse either. Deemed as a sequel of the 2010 hit Once Upon A Time in Mumbai starring Ajay Devgn and Emraan Haashmi, this movie attempts to carry forward the story of Shoaib (played by Akshay Kumar), the bratty and young upstart in the prequel (played with terrific restiveness by Emraan), who has now expanded his empire of fear over Mumbai and the Middle East. Aslam (Imran Khan) is the young protege picked up by Shoaib from the streets, who grows up to be a trusted lieutenant and devoted disciple to the dreaded Don. Enter Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha), a struggling actress trying to gain a foothold in the Mumbai film industry, and the equations change forever. Or so we're given to believe.
Now, if we were to judge this movie independently, we might have even deemed it average run-of-the mill Bollywood potboiler, although the pot cools down even before it could simmer. However, being declared a sequel, the audience would most likely compare it with the original, and that's where the problem begins. The prequel had excellent performances from the lead cast, in the form of a charismatic Ajay Devgn, with attitude dripping from every cigarette he smoked, while Emraan with his naked ambition and sly agenda, made no attempts to be the audience favorite. However, the real stars of the movie were the dialogues by Rajat Arora, considered a throwback to the time when Salim-Javed ruled the roost; and the excellent musical score by Pritam, giving it the ideal retro feel.
Given the background, the disappointment with the sequel begins with the fact that the plot is undercooked, to put it mildly, and practically invisible if one wants to be judgmental. There's hardly an effort by the scriptwriter or the director to tie the loose threads together or hold on to the attention of the audience. The dreaded Don that he is, Shoaib hardly seems to have the time to run his empire, choosing rather to bask in the glory of his own reign of fear. The central plot of the movie is expected to be the conflict between the leading men over the lady, and yet the least possible time is dedicated to impress this upon the viewers. There's nothing about Mumbai in this movie, this could have been shot anywhere in Honolulu, Honduras or Hatibagan, save for the occasional scenes shot in South Mumbai, and the mention of Dongri (the cradle of the underworld in Mumbai, everyone knows that !!!!), thrown here and there. It is a movie which tries to take itself way too seriously, without showing the earnestness for it, and the efforts to induce tongue-in-cheek humor intermittently are groan-worthy, to say the least.
The dialogues for the sequel are once again penned by Rajat Arora, and there are some fun ones, but the over-eagerness of the cast for the claps to resound every time they're mouthed, deems them insipid more often than not. Akshay, trying his best to be menacing and cold-blooded, seems to chew every dialogue to his heart's content before delivering them, almost expecting his henchmen to clap in reverence. However, to give credit where it is due, he is the movie's most earnest performer, and impresses beyond the second half, when he's finally given the opportunity to prove his villainous self. Imran delivers his dialogues with an epic flat face, and it's easy to guess that he's not got a clue of what they actually mean or whom they're intended for. The less we talk about Ms Sinha the better; the audience would be gobsmacked, flabbergasted and face-palm every time she opened her mouth, and beyond the interval, every time she appeared on screen. The excellent performance in Lootera seems light years away, and we sincerely hope this is an aberration, although her track record indicates otherwise. As for the supporting cast, some familiar faces thrown here and there do not deserve any mention whatsoever, given their screen time.
If observed from an independent point of view, OUATIM Dobaara is an average movie judged by gracious margins; which might deserve a watch purely on the basis of the second half where Akshay Kumar makes it watchable. However, any reference to the original, and you'd be left disappointed.
P.S: For someone daring to mention that the character of Shoaib is inspired by the actual D-man, he is most probably instructing his counsel right now to file a defamation lawsuit against the makers of this movie.
P.S: For someone daring to mention that the character of Shoaib is inspired by the actual D-man, he is most probably instructing his counsel right now to file a defamation lawsuit against the makers of this movie.
