When Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai hit the screen in 2010, it wasn’t just another Bollywood gangster film. It was a slow-burn, morally grey love letter to an era—the 1970s Bombay of polyester shirts, rotary phones, and rising crime. But the film’s real magic lay in its casting. Director Milan Luthria assembled a trio of actors who didn’t just play their parts; they inhabited the ghosts of Mumbai’s underworld.
And that, dear reader, is the real once-upon-a-time. once upon a time in mumbai actors
Devgn is known in the industry as an “iceberg actor”—90% of his performance is submerged beneath the surface. To prepare, he didn’t visit the Mumbai underworld or meet gangsters. Instead, he sat in silence. He studied the stillness of power. Watch closely: his Sultan never raises his voice. Even when he slaps a rival, his face remains calm. That terrifying calmness came from Devgn’s own understanding of restraint—a trait he inherited from his action-director father, Veeru Devgn. When Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai hit
Devgn insisted that his character’s signature white kurta-pyjama be starched so stiffly that it crinkled audibly. He believed that the sound of power was the rustle of crisp cotton, not the click of a gun. 2. Emraan Hashmi: The Serpent and the Scene-Stealer If Devgn is the iceberg, Emraan Hashmi’s Shoaib Khan (based on Dawood Ibrahim) is a wildfire. Shoaib starts as a loyal protégé and morphs into a hungry, slick-haired beast who wants to own Bombay. Director Milan Luthria assembled a trio of actors