Romanticising and mythifying gangsters is a peculiar preoccupation in cinema.

Hollywood has had its fair share of films eulogising shadowy dons with iconic stars essaying them on screen and participating in their glorification, often glossing over their misdeeds. In Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan's 'angry young man' of the '70s was the underdog anti-hero who broke the law to subvert the system that crushed him and millions like him. Somewhere, this persona then blurred into the underworld don who broke the law too, if only to get rich quick, and often had a sad back-story to justify his choices. The result was one of the finest portraits of urban angst in Yash Chopra's Deewaar, the story of an ordinary coolie working in the Mumbai docks who joins a gang of smugglers and swiftly rises in the ranks to become a dreaded don himself. The character was modelled after Haji Mastan Mirza, a smuggler who prospered through the 60s and 70s and eventually decided to come clean, float a political party and project himself as a quasi-messiah apart from romancing a small-time starlet and financing and producing films.

Now Milan Luthria's Once Upon A Time in Mumbai tries to re-tell the same myths that have built themselves around Mastan, off-setting his heroic image as smuggler-cum-messiah with his rogue protegee Dawood Ibrahim (although there isn't clear evidence that Dawood was indeed part of Mastan's gang at one point) who diversified into drugs and contract killings and soiled the relatively peaceful environment of the Mumbai underworld with his vicious ways, and eventually masterminded the 1993 blasts which shook the city's very foundation. Luthria doesn't add any new dimension to the story, merely recounts it in a predictable fashion and for anyone who knows their underworld history, there's nothing on offer here, except a nostalgic throwback to the 1970s and the relative 'innocence' of the times. Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgn) calls Mumbai his 'mehbooba', romances an actress named Rehana (Kangana Ranaut who looks dazed), divides the city into various zones to prevent rival dons from fighting with each other, rules the seas bringing in smuggled goods and doles out cash and justice generously to the poor and needy who flock to him. Along comes ACP Agnel Wilson (Randeep Hooda, impressive) determined to crush the likes of Sultan and keep Mumbai's streets free of vice. He tries to take on Sultan by weaning Rehana away from him. When that fails, he encourages Shoab (Emraan Hashmi, superb) the volatile son of an honest police officer to break Sultan's gang from within. Shoaib has a history of violence (we see him wearing his anger on his sleeve right from childhood) and while he admires Sultan, he's too ambitious for his own good. The first half of the film holds together quite well. Luthria is spot-on with the art direction, costumes, background score (simply brilliant and one of the high points of the film) and the '70s-style dramatic dialogues. Both Devgn and Hashmi are perfect foils to each other -- the former exudes an understated charisma, while the latter is brash and cocky in a self-assured way. While Sultan romances Rehana like an old-world majnu, Shoaib treats his girl (Prachi Desai, horribly miscast) like she's his to love or crush as he pleases. But as Shoaib starts growing bolder and Sultan decides to turn over a new leaf (because Rehana has a congenital heart condition, if you please), the film falls apart rapidly. Whatever interest there was in the graph of these two characters at the beginning is lost when it rolls out neatly to a trite end. There are no complexities to either man and they are painted with far too broad strokes for anyone to connect with them -- if you can get past the basic fact that they are basically just a pair of goons, that is. Still, in a film like Maqbool, it was possible to feel for the protagonist even as he killed and looted, because the character wasn't merely a caricature of a don, but a man of some courage and many failings. The glorification of Sultan

and an equal vilification of Shoaib is the only goal Luthria seems to have set out for himself. The heroines hang around doing precious little like a lot of 70s male-dominated films. One would have thought Ramgopal Varma had milked the gangster film dry and there really wasn't anything left to be said about the sorry players of the Mumbai underworld. But somehow filmmakers and audiences alike seem to have an endless fascination for these dubious figures and the cops are often left holding their head in shame (like Agnel does in this film). When was the last time we watched a film about an upright police officer who doggedly pursues the forces of darkness and vanquishes them in the end in an old-fashioned battle of good versus evil?
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The film opens with a suicide attempt by ACP Agnel Wilson (Randeep Hooda) on the pretext of the Mumbai Blasts in 1993. When questioned, he breaks down claiming the recent events as his fault, citing that 18 years ago when he was posted as the ACP in the Mumbai crime branch, his inability to take the required action led to the rise of Shoaib Khan (Emraan Hashmi), who played a key role in these blasts. He then goes on to narrate the time in Mumbai during the 1970s, when it was ruled by smuggler Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgan), his downfall and the consequent rise of Shoaib to power. After being hit by a flood in his hometown in Madras, Mirza arrives in Mumbai, where he starts working as a coal shoveler who smuggles gold items. Despite having a meager earning, he never fails to help the poor and needy and earns their support and respect. Gradually, he becomes the kingpin of smuggling world in Mumbai. He successfully divides the area among four gangsters peacefully, thus pinning the police in the deck and becoming the leader of Mumbai's underworld activities. Despite being a criminal, Mirza is shown to be a godfather like figure to the people and a man of principles. He is against smuggling contraband as it is against his Muslim faith. Mirza has a crush on Bollywood actress Rihana (Kangna Ranaut) and eventually the two begin to date each other, and Sultan invests black money in her upcoming films. ACP Wilson moves to stop Rihana's films funded by Sultan. But he is tricked by Sultan and Rihana and gets framed for accepting bribe, damaging his credibility. Meanwhile Shoaib is a very ambitious person with a very dark and daring character right from his childhood. His father, a sub-inspector in Mumbai Police, tries very hard to control him unsuccessfully. He grows up to become a notorious gangster, being frequently involved in petty robberies. Worried, Shoaib's father turns to Sultan for help to which he agrees and helps him set up an electronics shop. But Shoaib is unsatisfied, as his only ambition now is to become rich and powerful like Mirza. Shoaib's girlfriend Mumtaz (Prachi Desai) works in a local jewellery shop, which Shoaib visits often and gives her stolen jewelry. One day when a customer recognizes her necklace on Mumtaz, she decides to confront him. This enrages Shoaib who beats up the owner of the necklace and destroys his shop. He goes to Sultan to be a part of his crime ring. Seeing his potential, Sultan agrees to take him under his wing. Shoaib learns the tricks of the trade and soon becomes Sultan's trusted aide. ACP Wilson considers Shoaib's ideas and dark ambitions for quick money and power in a potential conflict to Sultan's ideals and hence foresees Shoaib causing the eventual downfall of Sultan. He even refrains from killing Sultan and Shoaib at one point. Finally when Shoaib becomes invincible, he blames himself for the catastrophe.

Meanwhile, Sultan decides to enter politics and goes to Delhi to meet the Home Minister of India, handing over his power to Shoaib. The money, unlimited power and Shoiab's unscrupulous ambitions lead him to carry out trades and acts which Sultan himself strongly condemns. He starts manufacturing illicit liquor, accepts contract killings, starts investing in drug peddling and runs extortion rackets. Finally when Sultan returns to Mumbai and finds out about Shoaib's misdeeds, he goes to meet Shoaib and slaps him for his unethical activities. This infuriates Shoaib and he plots revenge. One day while campaigning for his new party, as Sultan addresses the people on the dais, Shoaib shoots Sultan fatally, thus ending the saga of a smuggler who was loved by his people. Agnel, who was narrating the story, admits later that Shoaib has established an empire and operates from other countries as the kingpin of Mumbai. No government or force can reach or harm him.