With
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai
releasing
and
succeeding
at
the
box
office,
Milan
Luthria
can
afford
to
take
a
breather.
He
is
off
for
a
vacation
with
his
wife
and
has
pretty
much
cut
himself
from
the
rest
of
the
world.
However,
before
embarking
on
a
well
deserved
break,
he
did
talk
about
the
factors
that
made
OUATIM
a
success
and
how
he
got
the
best
set
of
actors
to
do
the
job.
In
the
second
and
concluding
part
of
the
conversation
with
special
correspondent,
Milan
talks
about
the
better
actor
between
Ajay
and
Emraan,
Mahesh
Bhatt's
remark
around
his
filmmaking
effort
and
the
role
that
media
plays
in
highlighting
the
success
and
failure
of
a
film.
The
film
is
a
clean
hit
today
and
your
biggest
grosser
till
date
as
well.
Can
one
say
that
now
we
have
Milan
Luthria
re-defined
with
the
success
of
the
film?
I
don't
think
so.
I
just
feel
that
the
film
industry
has
woken
up
to
this
guy
who
has
been
around
for
a
while.
I
have
enjoyed
similar
reviews
with
Kachche
Dhaage
and
Taxi
No.
9211
as
well.
However,
the
fact
is
that
today
we
are
living
in
the
media
age
when
the
popularity
of
a
director's
brand
grows
much
faster
than
it
used
to
be
earlier.
Then,
it
used
to
be
quieter
times
but
today,
whether
it
is
success
or
failure,
news
spreads
fast.
I
am
glad
that
it
is
a
good
time
for
me
to
be
positioned
differently.
The
maturity
and
experience
that
I
have
gained
over
the
years
gone
by
has
come
in
handy
as
well.
When
there
was
so
much
happening
on
the
film
for
a
couple
of
years,
why
didn't
you
go
all
out
in
creating
a
hype
around
it
for
all
it
was
worth
during
it's
making?
You
always
kept
a
low
key.
I
don't
think
it
is
a
question
of
being
low
key.
I
tend
to
stay
extremely
close
to
the
product
and
shut
myself
from
everything
else.
I
don't
do
anything
else
during
the
making.
I
find
it
distracting
to
do
build
branding
and
PR
at
the
same
time.
What
you
see
on
screen
is
not
just
8-10
weeks
of
movie
shoot;
it
is
2
years
of
intense
relationship
that
a
filmmaker
carries
with
a
story.
How
about
establishing
yourself
further
in
the
industry?
For
someone
who
made
a
couple
of
quintessential
multiplex
films
like
Taxi
No.
9211
and
Hat
Trick,
was
it
like
going
back
to
the
basics
of
making
'masala'
flicks?
Yes.
This
makes
me
remember
what
Mahesh
Bhatt
said
to
me
after
he
saw
the
film.
He
said
that
there
are
some
parties
where
a
host
takes
care
of
every
little
desire
of
yours.
Whether
it
is
the
functioning
of
AC,
choice
of
food,
availability
of
sitting
place
etc;
he
does
all
to
please
you
as
a
guest
and
leaves
no
stones
unturned.
He
feels
that
in
case
of
OUATIM,
I
was
the
host
and
audience
were
the
guests.
He
also
commented
that
desire
of
any
filmmaker
is
to
please
the
audience
in
a
popular
way;
something
which
was
the
norm
in
the
70s
where
action,
music,
drama
etc.
came
together.
So
yes,
in
that
sense,
it
was
like
going
back
to
the
basics
for
me.
After
all
this
is
an
industry
where
you
have
to
understand
that
your
prime
job
is
to
entertain,
not
create
social
awareness.
That's
true
Milan.
Now
that
you
are
not
shying
away
from
admitting
what
went
in
your
mind
during
the
making
of
OUATIM,
why
don't
you
-
without
getting
diplomatic
-
also
talk
about
the
character
which
was
more
difficult
to
enact.
Sultan
(Ajay
Devgn)
or
Shoaib
(Emraan
Hashmi)?
I
think
Shoaib.
See,
to
play
a
character
which
is
that
of
a
leading
man
and
yet
so
dark
is
a
very
difficult
thing
to
do.
As
a
performer,
your
conviction
has
to
be
much
stronger
than
that
of
playing
a
positive
character.
Here
I
was
showing
someone
who
roughs
up
his
girlfriend,
wakes
up
on
bed
with
another
woman,
abuses
his
own
dad
and
doesn't
have
any
morals
whatsoever.
This
way,
it
was
good
on
Emraan's
part
to
believe
in
me
and
not
worry
about
whether
he
was
playing
a
positive
or
a
negative
character.
Once
he
made
up
his
mind,
he
never
felt
that
he
would
be
short-changed.
That
was
about
the
character.
Who,
as
per
you,
acted
better?
Ajay
or
Emraan?
I
won't
pick
any
one
of
them
in
particular.
In
fact
the
guy
who
is
a
revelation
is
Randeep
Hooda.
See,
Ajay
and
Emraan
had
author
backed
roles
and
their
performance
only
made
these
roles
look
better.
Randeep
was
the
best
because
he
was
primarily
a
narrator
and
didn't
quite
have
a
similar
author
backed
role.
Yet,
he
shone.
He
is
someone
who
is
a
good
mix
of
talent
and
looks.
He
reminds
me
of
Vinod
Khanna,
someone
who
had
a
no-nonsense
attitude
and
great
physique.
Coming
to
the
business
of
the
film,
OUATIM
has
held
on
even
after
two
weeks
and
has
touched
50
crores
just
from
India.
What's
the
kind
of
eventual
total
you
are
looking
at
now?
I
am
not
a
numbers
person
at
all.
For
me,
if
the
house
is
full
then
my
job
is
done.
Beyond
that,
I
don't
know
how
the
numbers
are
collected,
what
leads
to
net,
gross
etc;
I
am
quite
backward
in
such
matters.
I
know
for
sure
though
that
the
film
will
continue
to
run
well
for
many
more
weeks
because
the
biggest
challenge
is
Dabangg
which
comes
only
in
September.
Story first published: Monday, August 23, 2010, 17:12 [IST]