Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Again First Promo Disappoints

The first promo of Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Again, the sequel to 2010 hit Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, was released last week. Milan Lutharia returns as the director, but the principal cast has been changed. The character of Ajay Devgn was killed by that Emraan Hashmi in the original. However, in the new film the role of Shoaib Khan is being played by Akshay Kumar. Other cast members include Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Sonali Bendre. Given below is the small review of the first promo of the sequel.

The promo begins with a cricket match somewhere outside India where everyone at the stadium is waiting for Shoaib Khan so that the play could begin. This scene gives the glimpse of the clout of Akshay’s character. Sonakshi Sinha is introduced thereafter who is seen drawing the attention of Akshay in a party and he falls for her. Imran Khan’s character is the lover of Sonakshi’s Yasmin and very quickly it is established that the plot of the film is all about the tussle between two guys for a woman. What follows is a sequence of interspersed action and dramatic scenes of the film.

I could never understand the logic behind the making of the sequel to Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai ever since it was announced. The original had ended at the right note and there was little scope for extension in the story considering it was inspired from real life characters. The producers still went ahead with the sequel and if promo is any indication, the film won’t be able to do much at the box office. Almost 3 and half minutes long promo hardly thrills or raises curiosity. The introduction of the characters is reminiscent of the original and there is a sense of Déjà-vu. The promo lacks proper editing and direction & scenes come off as pretty random. The dialogues lack the punch and even the action cuts have hardly any exciting about them. It is really surprising since the promo of The Dirty Picture, a film by the same producer and director, was one of the best of the year. Here they fail to show any substance, and more importantly, give a reason to the audience to prefer Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Again over Chennai Express.