Story
Inspired
by
true
events,
as
claimed
by
the
makers,
Mumbai
Saga
begins
with
a
dreaded
gangster
Amartya
Rao
(John
Abraham)
gunning
down
a
businessman
(Samir
Soni)
in
broad
daylight.
The
film
rewinds
eight
years
back
where
we
are
introduced
to
his
younger
days
when
he
earned
his
livelihood
by
selling
vegetables
at
the
railway
station.
His
younger
brother
Arjun
is
the
apple
of
his
eye.
When
the
lad
is
hospitalized
after
a
spat
with
one
of
Gaitonde's
(Amole
Gupte)
henchmen
over
extortion,
Amartya
lets
his
brawn
do
all
the
talking
and
lands
up
in
prison.
With
the
help
of
a
powerful
political
figure
Bhau
(Mahesh
Manjrekar),
Anna
(Suniel
Shetty
in
a
cameo)
and
a
drug
dealer
Naari
Khan
(Gulshan
Grover)
whom
Amartya
befriends
during
his
stint
in
the
jail,
the
latter
rises
to
become
one
of
the
most
powerful
gangsters
in
the
city.
"Bandook
toh
sirf
shaunk
ke
liye
rakhta
hoon,
darane
ke
liye
naam
hi
kaafi
hai," Amartya
proudly
declares
to
scare
an
opponent.
However,
his
existence
gets
threatened
when
the
slain
businessman's
wife
(Anjana
Sukhani)
announces
a
bounty
of
Rs
10
crore
to
whoever
slays
him,
which
sets
a
tough
cop,
Vijay
Savarkar
(Emraan
Hashmi)
in
pursuit
of
Amartya.
Direction
Gangster
films
have
always
been
Sanjay
Gupta's
forte;
be
it
Kaante
or
Shootout
At
Lokhandwala.
However
this
time,
the
director
gets
his
math
wrong
in
terms
of
both
story
and
execution.
Despite
having
a
star
cast
including
names
like
John
Abraham
and
Emraan
Hashmi,
he
fails
to
do
justice
to
their
characters
by
saddling
them
with
underwhelming
roles
that
fail
to
keep
you
invested
throughout
the
film's
runtime.
On
the
brighter
side,
Mumbai
Saga
has
some
well-shot
action
sequences
that
lends
some
'thrill' to
the
otherwise
tepid
screenplay.
Also,
John
Abraham-Emraan
Hashmi's
hand-to-hand
combat
scene
has
been
picturised
well.
Performances
When
it
comes
to
flexing
his
muscles,
beating
goons
to
pulp
and
engaging
in
dialogue-baazi,
John
Abraham
hits
the
bullseye.
However,
the
man
still
falters
when
it
comes
to
emotions
on
screen.
Also,
at
places,
he
does
remind
you
of
his
act
from
Shootout
At
Wadala.
Coming
to
Emraan
Hashmi,
the
actor
begins
his
cop
act
on
a
promising
note.
However,
the
writing
soon
loses
its
steam
and
he
is
left
dry!
Nevertheless,
Emraan
still
manages
to
pack
a
punch
in
the
scenes
where
he
shares
screen
space
with
John.
Prateik
Babbar
ends
up
as
a
miscast
while
Kajal
Aggarwal
barely
makes
her
presence
felt
in
this
testosterone-driven
vehicle.
Mahesh
Manjrekar
pulls
off
whatever
his
role
demands.
On
the
other
hand,
Amole
Gupte
does
go
a
tad
OTT
at
places.
The
rest
of
the
cast
including
Gulshan
Grover,
Rohit
Roy
and
Shaad
Randhawa
deliver
what's
expected
of
them
in
a
Sanjay
Gupta
film.
Technical
Aspects
Shikhar
Bhatnagar's
camera
work
has
nothing
novel
to
offer;
but
it
doesn't
harm
the
final
product
as
well.
Bunty
Negi's
editing
seems
to
be
abrupt
at
places.
Music
The
Ganpati
song
'Danka
Baja'
adds
some
color
to
the
film,
but
lacks
a
recall
value.
Honey
Singh's
'Shor
Machega'
suffers
from
some
weird
camera
shots
and
absurd
lyrics.
The
only
hummable
number
'Lu
Gaye'
fails
to
make
it
to
the
final
cut
of
the
film
as
the
makers
had
released
the
romantic
ballad
as
a
single.
Interestingly,
the
song
is
a
prequel
to
Emraan's
cop
character
Vijay
Savarkar
and
his
unrequited
love
story
which
spurs
him
to
start
his
mission
to
end
crimes.
Verdict
In
one
of
the
scenes,
while
shooting
a
person,
John
Abraham's
character
Amartya
Rao
haughtily
tells
him,
"Teri
gaadi
bulletproof
hai,
tu
nahi." Thankfully,
the
audience
has
a
choice
of
dodging
this
bullet
of
disappointment!