Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS): Actor Imran Khan, reflecting on his old filmography, has reminisced about the shooting of the Bollywood film ‘Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara’ (OUATIMD), calling it both a tricky film; and a tragic romance, as opposed to a gangster film.
Taking to Instagram, the Bollywood actor took a stroll down memory lane on the film’s 10th anniversary and wrote: “‘Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara’ (that's the official spelling, zoom in on the poster if you don't believe me) was a tricky film. It was perceived and marketed as a gangster movie, but I had always seen it as a tragic romance; while the characters are gangsters, the plot is entirely driven by the love story, not the cops vs robbers stuff.”
Talking about its reception and his chemistry with his co-star Akshay Kumar, he sang praises for him, writing: “The film was not very well received upon release, and I shouldered most of the responsibility... but that never tarnished the affection I felt for my teammates. @akshaykumar was the very definition of Movie Star cool, and is probably the strongest human being I've met in real life... this dude's forearms are as thick as my calves, seriously. And I loved @aslisona from the first day. Fearless and unrestrained as an actor, and utterly devoid of any self-importance.”
Recalling his preparation for essaying the role of his character, Aslam Siddiqui, Imran added: “I was excited about the retro vibe of the film, and I took a lot of styling cues from Anil Kapoor (‘Mashaal’) and Jackie Shroff (‘Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri’) in their 80's glory. I grew out my sideburns and mustache in an attempt to be authentic... but it was not to be.”
The ‘Delhi Belly’ actor, recalled some of the troubles he faced during the shoot and wrote: “While I was initially scheduled to wrap shooting on this film in January 2013, and begin the shoot for’ Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ the next month, the schedules stretched till August of that year, and we were still on set filming scenes two weeks before release!"
“This meant that after filming about 30 per cent of my scenes, I had to shave and get a haircut so I could start ‘GTPM’, and complete the rest of ‘OUATIM’ with hair extensions, fake sideburns and a glued-on mustache. It's easy to catch, now that you're looking for it," he added.
Imran Khan took a hiatus from acting after ‘Katti Batti’. The 40-year old is again gearing up for his return to acting, though when specifically he has not said.