If
you
were
in
Mumbai
over
the
weekend,
saw
Once
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai
in
a
single
screen
theatre
and
had
a
man
witting
next
to
you/standing
in
the
aisle
with
a
cap,
shades
and
a
heavily
covered
face,
chances
are
you
had
none
other
than
Emraan
Hashmi
for
company.
Reason
being
that
the
actor,
in
order
to
gauge
the
response
of
his
recent
release,
was
passing
in
and
out
of
numerous
single
screen
theatres
in
Mumbai.
Says
a
friend
of
Emraan,
"To
begin
with,
Emraan's
idea
was
to
connect
with
his
fans
directly
for
Once
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai.
Despite
going
through
an
11
cities
promotional
tour
that
lasted
for
a
fortnight,
Emraan
wasn't
allowing
any
fatigue
to
set
in.
This
is
a
major
film
for
him
as
it
sees
him
in
a
dramatic
avtar
and
he
wasn't
going
to
let
go
of
the
opportunity
for
his
fan
base
to
increase
manifold.
Due
to
this,
he
decided
to
go
to
not
one,
not
two
but
all
single
screen
cinema
halls
in
Mumbai
to
meet
the
audiences
and
know
their
views
about
the
movie."
Resultantly,
there
was
a
bunch
of
surprised
audience
which
saw
Emraan
Hashmi
amidst
them
in
a
single
screen
theatre.
To
begin
with,
he
wanted
to
directly
interact
with
audience
and
hence
didn't
have
any
qualms
about
walking
in
casually
and
asking
them
about
what
they
felt
after
the
end
credits
had
rolled.
"Yes,
I
did
make
a
visit
to
the
theatres
as
this
is
one
film
which
I
knew
was
very
audience
friendly",
says
Emraan
who
sounds
pretty
calm
and
composed
for
someone
who
has
seen
very
good
critical
acclaim
also
coming
for
him
in
addition
to
audience
appreciation,
"This
is
a
kind
of
film
which
is
pretty
interactive
for
audience
as
it
entices
them
into
coming
up
with
a
lot
of
'seetis'
and
'taalis',
considering
the
subject
and
treatment.
It
was
overwhelming
to
see
how
crowds
react
to
the
character
that
you
play
on
screen."
What
he
doesn't
say
though
is
that
quite
a
few
members
from
the
audience
started
mouthing
powerful
dialogues
from
the
film
once
it
was
through.
The
one
which
was
singled
out
was
about
'Sultan
ko
log
smuggler
kehke
bulaate
the,
mujhe
woh
Don
ke
naam
se
jaanenge'.
While
it
is
left
to
no
one's
imagination
about
the
real
life
characters
to
which
Emraan
refers
to
in
the
film,
the
fact
remains
that
it
instantly
appealed
to
the
audience.
This
is
not
all
as
compliments
started
coming
Emraan's
way
for
his
look
and
style
as
well.
However,
as
the
weekend
progressed,
the
word
of
mouth
had
caught
in
a
big
way
and
Emraan
had
to
rethink
about
his
strategy
of
stepping
into
theatres
as
casually
as
before.
"Any
actor
would
love
the
popularity
coming
his
way
and
direct
feedback
from
the
audience.
Emraan
is
no
different.
However,
he
also
couldn't
afford
to
be
careless
and
let
himself
become
a
part
of
an
ever
increasing
crowd.
This
is
why
he
decided
to
follow
a
mix
and
match
approach
and
chose
his
theatres",
informs
his
friend,
"While
he
was
continuing
his
interaction
with
audience
in
select
theatres,
he
also
walked
in
unannounced
and
made
a
quick
exit
at
some
places.
He
put
some
basic
disguise
in
place
and
was
inside
the
auditorium
only
after
the
film
had
started
and
left
before
the
end."
Well,
since
Emraan
comes
on
screen
only
after
30
minutes
into
the
film
(though
he
stays
on
till
the
very
end),
the
ex-Serial
Kisser
(yes,
now
one
can
remove
the
tag
that
has
been
hanging
against
his
name
for
ages
now!)
wouldn't
have
minded
walking
in
a
little
late!
Story first published: Monday, August 2, 2010, 17:34 [IST]