When Bollywood stars jet down to Dubai for a film’s press junket, it’s assumed that they will be eager to talk up their film — that every question and comment will somehow be steered into highlighting their latest project.
Not for the Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again! (OUATIMA) cast.
Instead, Bollywood’s top action star, Akshay Kumar, and heartthrob Imran Khan, who play gun-wielding gangsters, had their targets set on vada pav, a popular Mumbai snack of spicy potato deep fried in gram flour batter and sandwiched in a bread bun.
“The best part about Mumbai was when I could eat vada pav for Rs1. It was such a matter of pride for us,” said Khan.
“Just like how a city like New York prides itself in their pizzas and burgers we do the same with vada pav. Go near Kirti College to get the real stuff,” said Khan. Kumar, who plays the trigger-happy gangster Shoaib in OUATIMA, is quick to fill us in.
“The golden days of Mumbai was when we could get a vada pav for 75 paisa and the best ones can be eaten near the Shiv Sena Bhavan. A good vada pav is a city’s pride. Imran, you should try that — that’s the real deal,” said Kumar, who worked as a chef and waiter in Thailand before his Bollywood breakthrough. A culinary debate was averted when Kumar said: ‘Maybe this interview should be called Once Upon A Time In Vada Pav.”
In our ten-minute interaction with these two heroes and their on-screen love interest Sonakshi Sinha, it was clear that they loved goofing around.
“Ok, let’s get back to the film. I play a villain called Shoaib. He has fallen in love and wants to beat up all those who try to interfere with his life. I am Imran’s guru. He’s my chella [pupil] but he interfered with my life by falling in love with the girl that I love. The thing is that we don’t know that we have fallen in love with the same girl,” said Kumar. As he makes this pronouncement, he glares at Sinha.
“In the film, she was never clear about whom she loved. So basically, we fall in love without realising that there’s any connection. She could have been more clear and transparent. We men come with the cleanest of intentions,” said Kumar.
Sinha, who plays an aspiring actress, Jasmine, chose to shoot down such accusations with: “You can’t generalise by saying that women bring down empires. Famous stories have been spun around that because it makes for a compelling story. Imagine a story of a man who gives up everything for a woman. It has lots of drama. All I can say is that it was super to have two good-looking men court me on screen. I got bullied a bit by them off-screen, but on the big screen it all looks good,” said Sinha.
Directed by Milan Luthria, OUATIMA is a sequel to the 2010 underworld saga that starred Emraan Hashmi and Ajay Devgan. But the original cast has not been retained.
“This is not a violent gangster drama. It’s a love story set against the backdrop of the underbelly of the underworld. Everyone in this world has a soft side. They are all human and all of us can fall in love,” said Kumar. The nephew of Aamir Khan, he is known for his romantic roles in films such as Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, and says his character, Aslam, is essentially a good guy. His day job includes beating people into submission and polishing off his mafia boss’ rivals.
“Yes, he’s a criminal who works outside the law but he has some kind of moral code. He has great respect for Shoaib and he realises that he owes his success to him. He’s faithful to him. But the emotional struggle plays out when he meets this girl,” said Khan. He warns us not to go in with preconceived notions about gangsters.
“Most crimes are borne out of necessity and helplessness... Everyone is a human being somewhere. Aslam is earnest and Milan wanted me to be a spiritual successor of sorts. It’s an entertaining film. No heaving bosoms, just some vanilla violence without the goriness.”
