Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
- Director
- Milan Luthria
- Studio
- Balaji Motion Pictures
- Release Date
- 29 July 2010
- Language
- Hindi
- Budget
- ₹38.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹85.20 Cr
Review
Milan Luthria's *Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai* is a film that understands the mythology of underworld cinema better than most—it constructs a morality tale wrapped in the vernacular of '70s Mumbai smuggling culture, where loyalty and honor among thieves matter more than legality. Emraan Hashmi's Sultan Mirza emerges as the picture's moral anchor, a criminal protagonist who refuses to cross certain lines, and Hashmi inhabits the role with surprising restraint and dignity; his scenes carry genuine weight, particularly in moments where paternal responsibility conflicts with criminal empire. However, the film's structural ambition—trying to balance Sultan's rise with Shoaib's corruption and Wilson's redemption arc—occasionally dilutes focus, and the second half sacrifices character nuance for plot mechanics. Ajay Devgn as Shoaib is adequate but somewhat one-dimensional; the character needed more psychological depth to justify the generational power struggle the narrative promises.
What truly works is Luthria's visual grammar: the film captures Mumbai's texture through dusty warehouses, cramped bazaars, and the textural decay of urban spaces where empires of crime actually flourish. The direction maintains momentum through 140 minutes without resorting to bloat, and the film's central tragic irony—that Sultan's principles inadvertently enable far greater violence through Shoaib's amorality—lands with thematic resonance. Yet the climax, hinging on Wilson's guilt-ridden confession,
Storyline
Sultan Mirza arrives in Mumbai as a poor coal shoveller and transforms himself into the city's most respected smuggling kingpin through sheer charisma and an unwavering moral code—he's a criminal with principles, helping the poor while refusing to traffic drugs. Meanwhile, young Shoaib Khan grows up as the ambitious, morally bankrupt son of a cop, idolizing Sultan and desperate to claim power for himself. When Sultan helps rehabilitate Shoaib by setting him up with an electronics shop, it only fuels Shoaib's resentment; the kid doesn't want redemption, he wants to be a gangster, and Sultan's mentorship feels like a cage.
The tension erupts when Wilson, an honest cop, tries to bust Sultan's operations—but Sultan and his actress girlfriend Rehana outmaneuver him, framing him for bribery and destroying his career. Meanwhile, Shoaib's own schemes spiral dangerously; he steals a necklace for his girlfriend Mumtaz, only to have it recognized by the original owner who arrives at her workplace. Everything's collapsing simultaneously, and Shoaib sees his opportunity: with Sultan weakened and Wilson compromised, the ambitious young thug can finally seize control of the underworld.
By 1993, Shoaib's ruthless rise has culminated in the Mumbai bombings that shake the entire city, and now Wilson—wracked with guilt over his past failures—stands on the edge of a cliff, confessing to his superior that his inability to stop Sultan's empire back in the '70s directly enabled the carnage. The tragedy isn't just the bombings themselves; it's how one cop's misstep and one kingpin's fall created a power vacuum that a monster like Shoaib couldn't resist filling.
