Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar in a still from the movie Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara
New Delhi:
Milan Luthria has set the sequelof Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai on a bigger stage and thoughhe is aware of the risks, the director says it was interestingto take the same story forward with new actors.
The original film starred Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmibut in the sequel Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara,Akshay Kumar has replaced Hashmi as Shoaib with Imran Khan andSonakshi Sinha playing new characters. The Balaji MotionPictures film releases on August 15.
"In The Godfather trilogy, the same character was played byMarlon Brando and Robert De Niro. Similarly, it was aninteresting experiment for me to introduce new actors. Emraancould not have played the role because we needed an olderactor to play Shoaib in the sequel," Luthria told PTI in aninterview.
The director admits that the experiment was not easy buthe is confident that it will benefit the franchise. He hasearlier denied that the film is inspired by Dawood Ibrahim orChhota Shakeel.
"I have retained the essence of Shoaib's character. He isevil, flamboyant, enigmatic and unpredictable but I have letAkshay interpret it in his own way. The equations have changedthis time. While Shoaib was the protege in the original film,he is the mentor in the sequel," Luthria added.
The original film was about the power struggle betweentwo gangsters but Luthria has brought in a beautiful woman tocreate conflict this time.
"I am attempting a love story in the gangster setting.This time it is about matters of the heart. The DirtyPicture helped me find a loyal female audience and I wantedto reconnect with them again with the love triangle."
Luthria admits that it took some time to bring Akshay outof his established image to play a thoroughly evil characterin the sequel but he is happy with the results.
"There were moments when Akshay would slip out of thecharacter but we would work on it immediately. He was veryeager to do it the way I wanted because he is a huge fan ofthe first part.
"Also, Akshay is a hassle free man. Before shooting, wemet several times as I wanted to see his vibe. I needed toknow the things that I would change in him. We put him througha rigorous schedule of costume trial, hair trial and readingsessions. I don't think he does that in his other films. Hegave a lot of his time and energy to this film."
Similarly, Luthria has cast Imran against his popularromantic image in the film and he claims the young actor hasdone full justice to the dramatic role.
"Both Emraan and Imran came to me with similar baggage.They were not being taken seriously in dramatic roles. Thereis something very likable about Imran which helps our film andhe had done a superb job. Imran is the surprise package ofthis film, the dark horse."
The trailer of the film opens with Shoaib entering thecricket field, a sequence that Luthria shot a year ago.Luthria says the recent match fixing scandal was an act ofmarketing providence.
"We shot that scene a year ago and it was a coincidencethat the time of the trailer and the scandal was the same. Itwas an act of marketing providence."
The original film starred Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmibut in the sequel Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara,Akshay Kumar has replaced Hashmi as Shoaib with Imran Khan andSonakshi Sinha playing new characters. The Balaji MotionPictures film releases on August 15.
"In The Godfather trilogy, the same character was played byMarlon Brando and Robert De Niro. Similarly, it was aninteresting experiment for me to introduce new actors. Emraancould not have played the role because we needed an olderactor to play Shoaib in the sequel," Luthria told PTI in aninterview.
The director admits that the experiment was not easy buthe is confident that it will benefit the franchise. He hasearlier denied that the film is inspired by Dawood Ibrahim orChhota Shakeel.
"I have retained the essence of Shoaib's character. He isevil, flamboyant, enigmatic and unpredictable but I have letAkshay interpret it in his own way. The equations have changedthis time. While Shoaib was the protege in the original film,he is the mentor in the sequel," Luthria added.
The original film was about the power struggle betweentwo gangsters but Luthria has brought in a beautiful woman tocreate conflict this time.
"I am attempting a love story in the gangster setting.This time it is about matters of the heart. The DirtyPicture helped me find a loyal female audience and I wantedto reconnect with them again with the love triangle."
Luthria admits that it took some time to bring Akshay outof his established image to play a thoroughly evil characterin the sequel but he is happy with the results.
"There were moments when Akshay would slip out of thecharacter but we would work on it immediately. He was veryeager to do it the way I wanted because he is a huge fan ofthe first part.
"Also, Akshay is a hassle free man. Before shooting, wemet several times as I wanted to see his vibe. I needed toknow the things that I would change in him. We put him througha rigorous schedule of costume trial, hair trial and readingsessions. I don't think he does that in his other films. Hegave a lot of his time and energy to this film."
Similarly, Luthria has cast Imran against his popularromantic image in the film and he claims the young actor hasdone full justice to the dramatic role.
"Both Emraan and Imran came to me with similar baggage.They were not being taken seriously in dramatic roles. Thereis something very likable about Imran which helps our film andhe had done a superb job. Imran is the surprise package ofthis film, the dark horse."
The trailer of the film opens with Shoaib entering thecricket field, a sequence that Luthria shot a year ago.Luthria says the recent match fixing scandal was an act ofmarketing providence.
"We shot that scene a year ago and it was a coincidencethat the time of the trailer and the scandal was the same. Itwas an act of marketing providence."
