“I am the romantic force” - Kangana Ranaut

There is no denying the fact that Once Upon A Time In Mumbai has fast turned out to be one of the most awaited films of the season. Credit it to the Ajay Devgn factor as he seems to be walking in straight from the days of Company, the charm of Emraan Hashmi who seems to be on a role reversal of sorts after Gangster, the music by Pritam which has everything going right for it, the Bobby nostalgia that has been created by Prachi or the mystery called Kangana Ranaut which seems to follow her film after film.

Kangana Ranaut - a mystery, something that led to names like Madhubala and Meena Kumari being thrown around as the reference points for the role of an actress that she plays in this Milan Luthria directed film. Still, there was no concrete information coming in from any quarters. Now that the film is just a few days away from release, a couple of shocking truths have been revealed.

First and foremost, it has been declared that Kangana's character is indeed based on an actual heroine from the 70s. Secondly, the actress in picture is neither Madhubala nor Meena Kumari but a small time actress whose name was Sona. A girl who had actually acted in a couple of Bollywood films in the 70s, Sona was also the love of Haji Mastan on whom Ajay Devgn's role in the film is based. Since Kangana plays the female lead opposite him, it was obvious that the reference point was Sona.

"Well, I have been told that Haji Mastan was in love with this girl called Sona", Kangana says in a hush-hush tone, "She was a Madhubala look-alike and a struggler during the 70s. When the two came together, they became romantically involved. He even went on to make a movie for her."

A quick Google search assures that Kangana's claims were indeed true. Sona did actually work in a couple of films though the one which was notable was Raj Khosla's Kuchche Dhaage where she had Vinod Khanna, Moushumi Chatterjee and Kabir Bedi for company. Incidentally, another striking factor about this casting and the film was that Moushumi's screen name here was, as you guessed it right, Sona.

Cut to 2010 and there are obvious similarities in Kangana's characterisation. As Rehana - an actress, she plays the love interest of Sultan (played by Ajay Devgn) who is a don in the Mumbai of 70s. "Rehana is basically a cross between Madhubala and Sona. She is really desired and is madly loved by Sultan", confirms Kangana.

Unlike Sona though, Kangana gets the perks of playing a superstar instead of a struggler in the film. "Ajay's character feels connected to her because he knows her only through the big screen. Once the two fall in love, Rehana becomes really vulnerable. You can say that while Ajay is the positive force of the film, Emraan is the negative force and I am the romantic force."

Of course Kangana, we would like to believe that!