Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara!

About the film

Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara! (transl. Once Upon a time in Mumbai again; Hindi pronunciation: [doːbaːra]) is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language gangster film directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor. A sequel to 2010's Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, the film stars Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha, with Sonali Bendre in a special appearance. The film's title is an intentional misspelling of "Once Upon a time in Mumbai Dobaara", done in accordance with Ekta's belief in numerology and astrology.

Filming began on 27 August 2012 in Mumbai, with filming moving to Oman in September, becoming the first major Indian production filmed in the sultanate. Footage was shot on the beach in Qantab, Qurum, and at the Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa in Muscat. The film's visual effects (VFX) were by Reliance MediaWorks, and a team of 40 artists augmented 600 digital shots in one month. The live action sequences were filmed with RED and Arri's Alexa digital motion-picture camera. Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara! was well-promoted, and the film's second trailer was shown on prime-time slots on four television channels. Hollywood actor Al Pacino was shown the theatrical trailer for the film.

Plot

The film begins where its predecessor ended, with reigning don Shoaib Khan earning respect after his mentor, Sultan Mirza handed over his power to Shoaib in 1975, only to be assassinated by him as revenge for a public humiliation immediately after.

Twelve years later, in 1987, Khan is still a charismatic, suave womaniser, who has extended his empire to the Middle East. His only friends are Javed (who oversees his illegal work), his former love Mumtaz, and Aslam, a teenager Khan met during a visit to the slums in which he grew up.

An older Khan returns to Bombay to kill Rawal, who opposed his ambition to take the reins in Bombay. Although the city was his first love, rising starlet Jasmine wins his heart. Khan advances Jasmine's career by rigging awards, and showers her with gifts; he becomes obsessed with her. He sends Aslam and another trustworthy aide, Jimmy, to kill Rawal. Jimmy fails, accidentally killing his girlfriend, Mona, and flees. He is soon captured by the police, hot on Khan's trail after learning about his arrival in Bombay. Jimmy, loyal to Khan, does not crack during his interrogation and is freed due to lack of evidence. The police intend to draw Khan out from hiding; he has eluded them for twelve years, and this is their last chance to take him on Indian soil.

Production

Tanuj Garg, CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures, announced on Twitter that principal photography began on 27 August 2012 in Mumbai. Female lead Sonakshi Sinha joined the cast and crew two days later after completing her previous film, Son of Sardaar, with Ajay Devgn. The overseas shooting schedule began in September in Oman, the first major Indian production filmed in the sultanate. Portions of the film were shot on a beach in Qantab, on the corniche in Qurum, and at the Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa in Muscat. When director Milan Luthria became ill with a virus, shooting was postponed for three days. To make up the lost time Luthria persuaded Kumar to work on two consecutive Sundays, the first time he had worked on a Sunday since Priyadarshan's 2006 Bhagam Bhag. The remainder of the film was shot on location in Khala, on the Sassoon Docks and at Mukesh Mills in Mumbai. The shoot was wrapped up by January 2013.

The film's visual effects (VFX) were by Reliance MediaWorks, which also produced computer-generated imagery (CGI) for Balaji Motion Pictures and Luthria for its prequel, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010). Since the company was also generating VFX for the yet-unreleased Chennai Express (2013) its roster of animators and compositors was divided into two teams. The Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! team consisted of 40 artists, who augmented 600 digital shots in one month. Luthria informed the company that Dobaara! was set during the 1980s, with car chases requiring visual effects. About 25 percent were shot against chroma key backgrounds, since they would have been difficult to film otherwise. Scenes in the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in the United Arab Emirates were recreated three-dimensionally with polygonal modelling in Autodesk Maya instead of the live-action plates used for shots in Muscat. Adobe Photoshop and ZBrush were used to add texture to matte paintings in the background and the 3D models. Outdoor shots in Mumbai (such as Colaba Causeway and Ballard Pier) were replaced by interior and exterior live-action plates from Oman. According to Sanjiv Naik, the film's VFX supervisor, the last few scenes were the most difficult ones to shoot. In the last scene where Khan is lying wounded in the cargo hold of a ship, the camera zooms out to reveal the word Mumbai. T…

Emraan Hashmi, who appeared in the original film, was initially chosen to play the lead role. However, Luthria was looking for an older actor and chose Kumar for the role of Shoaib Khan (based on Dawood Ibrahim). In February 2012 it was announced that there were two male leads in the film, the second said to be Shahid Kapoor, but the following month Imran Khan was confirmed as the second male lead. Many actresses were considered for the female lead, including Ileana D'Cruz, Kareena Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Asin, Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, but in April it was reported that Sonakshi Sinha had been cast. Sonali Bendre was also signed as a lead character in the film. The film marked Bendre's first role since Shankar Dada MBBS. She did not charge her fees for the film as Sobha Kapoor, one of the producers of the film has been the friend of her mother-in-law for the past 40 years, and also out of gratitude for Luthria, who shot her first song Sambhala Hai Maine in the 1994 film Naaraaz. In November 2012, it was announced that the film was scheduled for release on Eid 2013. Kumar revealed during the trailer launch of the film about having no aspirations to set new benchmarks on a role previously enacted by Hashmi. Khan in preparation for his role in the film drew inspiration from Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor, copying their mannerisms, behaviour and dressing style by watching D…

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