Once Upon A Time In Mumbai recreates film Don effect
Features
oi-Kalyani Prasad Keshri
By Kalyani Prasad Keshri
Big
B
keeps
making
unexpected
guest
appearances
in
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai.
While
Ajay
Devgn"s
character
has
been
admittedly
designed
around
the
Big
B"s
persona,
a
lot
of
the
film"s
mood
and
atmospheric
effects
are
designed
around
Chandra
Barot"s
1978
espionage
thriller
Don.
And
that
wasn"t
easy
to
achieve.
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai
took
its
own
sweet
time
to
get
to
the
censors
because
the
director
was
busy
trying
to
get
the
texture
and
quality
of
background
music
from
Don.
Says
Milan
Luthria,
“It
wasn"t
easy
at
all.
I
had
a
new
composer
Sandeep
Shirodkar
to
do
the
background
score.
I
wanted
the
entire
smoky
atmosphere,
the
mood
of
intrigue
suspense
tension
and
romance
of
the
1970s
to
come
out
of
the
music.
My
reference
point
was
the
Amitabh
Bachchan
starrer
Don."
The
effort
to
get
the
right
music
took
much
longer
than
expected.
And
the
film
went
for
censoring
later
than
Milan
had
imagined.
“But
the
effort
was
worth
it," says
the
director
proudly.
An
even
prouder
moment
was
when
Milan"s
mentor
Mahesh
Bhatt
saw
the
film
on
Wednesday
evening.
Says
Milan,
“Mahesh
is
my
boss.
When
I
saw
him
whistling
and
cheering
my
film
I
felt
I
had
done
my
duty." With
Haji
Mastan"s
adopted
son
and
three
biological
daughters
honing
in
to
prevent
the
release
of
Once
Upon
A
Time
in
Mumbai,
producer
Ekta
Kapoor
and
director
Milan
Luthria
have
quickly
followed
the
court
directive
and
inserted
a
disclaimer
to
the
belief
that
the
film
is
a
fictionalized
bio-pic
of
Haji
Mastan"s
life.
The
disclaimer
won"t
be
the
ordinary
kind
that
says
all
the
characters
are
fictional
and
any
resemblance
to
any
person
living
or
dead
is
coincidental.
Explains
director
Milan
Luthria,
“Our
disclaimer
which
comes
at
the
start
of
the
film
would
actually
say
that
it
has
nothing
to
do
with
Haji
Mastan.
We
also
have
to
put
out
a
press
statement
saying
none
of
us
from
the
film
has
ever
made
any
statement
claiming
our
film
had
anything
to
do
with
Haji
Mastan."
But
the
question
is,
would
the
disclaimer
pacify
Haji
Mastan"s
family,
especially
when
so
many
of
the
incidents
in
the
plot
would
directly
remind
them
of
their
family
matters?