Now here is a royal audience that Akshay Kumar would rather forget. The actor along with rest of the 'Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara' cast was in Dubai for promotional duties and scored an invite to the royal residence.

Once at the palace they were welcomed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, the son-in-law of Sheikh Mohammed, the monarch of Dubai. And it went downhill from there.

Unfortunately for Akshay, Imran and Sonakshi, the Sheikh's knowledge of Bollywood stopped at Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. Imran introduced himself as the nephew of that actor from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak but Akshay had no such Khan connect to elaborate on.

The Sheikh tried to plow through the awkward silences by name-dropping SRK but little did he know that he was making the situation worse, given that the team was there to promote a film which has long been tagged as the rival to SRK's latest release Chennai Express.

At one point, Akshay asked the Sheikh which Bollywood movie he had watched last and pat came the reply, "A Shah Rukh movie!" Akshay gave up after that and the stiff silence resumed. And in a rather brilliant attempt to amuse his guests, the royal brought out a rather delicate curio from his collection, a dinosaur's egg procured from Korea. The Bollywood duo had to showcase the best of their acting chops to keep a straight face as they admired their host's proud possession. Sonakshi whipped out her phone for a picture and Imran patted the extinct relic. And as usual it all ended with a photo opportunity but thankfully the egg did not make a special appearance in there.

After three years, the sequel to Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai returns, bigger and with a new star cast. The sequel, Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara! stars Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Imran Khan and Sonali Bendre, with Akshay reprising the role of Emraan Hashmi (who played Shoaib), in a mature avatar for this film.

OUATIM Dobaara! takes off from where the first film ended. Akshay Kumar takes over Emraan Hashmi's role (as Shoaib) who rules Mumbai after killing his mentor Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgn). A womanizer, Shoaib extends his empire to the Middle East and even the West.

Shoaib's old time love Mumtaz (Sonali Bendre) is always by his side. He then befriends Aslam (Imran Khan) from the slums and the two seem to share a great rapport. Meanwhile, Shoaib has his fair share of enemies who are trying to bring him down. Along the way, he and Aslam encounter a starlet (Sonakshi Sinha) and both fall in love with her. That's when the tables turn. Shoaib and Aslam become enemies and the fight between the two begins, with Shoaib's enemies posing as a double threat to him.

While most of the unit remains the same, (producer, director, writer and music composer) for OUATIM Dobaara!, will it prove to be as lucky as the original and will it be a bigger hit?

While OUATIM had great music with songs like Pee Loon and Tum Jo Aaye that topped the charts, OUATIM Dobaara! seems to have a lukewarm response to its music.

Once again there is a unique star cast for the sequel, just like the original which had Emraan Hashmi, Ajay Devgn and Kangana Ranaut. But this is something director Milan Luthria is used to. "Odd ball casting works for me in all my films, be it OUATIM, OUATIM Dobaara!, Taxi No. 9211, The Dirty Picture or Kachche Dhaage. A lot of questions were asked when I cast Emraan in OUATIM. Everyone said he was non conventional. I was told I had done the worst casting for Silk, who was a dancing superstar. But I wanted to give our film a unique look and it brings different audiences to theatres," says Milan.

While leading lady Sonakshi Sinha has delivered back to back hits, Akshay Kumar is not far behind. The Khiladi of Bollywood has been a mass entertainer and a favourtie with audiences. Viewers are also warming up to this unique star cast with Sonakshi Sinha being paired opposite both Akshay and Imran Khan. This could work in the favour of the film.

Director Milan Luthria comments on this star cast. "We needed an older Shoaib who was 15 years mature since this is a mentor protege franchise. We wanted to the protege from the earlier film to play a mentor in the sequel and that's why we chose Akshay. He was in talks with Ekta to do a film and he also wanted to work with me so why not? Akshay's into comedy and action of late so it was interesting to cast against his type, in an evil role. It will be a good change for his fans and as a director, I would have something different o play with. For Aslam's character, I wanted an earnest, righteous looking actor to play the role and that's how I cast Imran Khan. Sonakshi's a phenomenal actress and I've seen all her work. We wanted an Indian looking girl who is naive and comes from the North to make it into Bollywood. She had to look good against Akshay and Imran so I could not cast an older looking actress. I had to also ensure that Akshay did not look like a cradle snatcher and Imran did not look like a baby against Sonakshi. The actress had to fit well against both the male characters."

This time, the entire team is going all out to promote the film across every medium. But is too much visibility killing curiosity?

OUATIM Dobaara! has also been in the news as it was supposed to release on the same date as Chennai Express which released on Eid. But both Ekta and Milan pushed it by a week, thus cashing in on Independence Day. Milan also sorted the issue with Shahrukh Khan.

But with Chennai Express breaking all records on the day of its opening and still continuing to go strong, will it affect the box office opening of OUATIM Dobaara? Especially since Chennai Express will complete a week on 15th August (the same day that OUATIM Dobaara! releases).

Akshay Kumar, 45, is easily one of India's most good-looking men. He considers the month of September both lucky and expensive for him as his birthday as well as the birthday of both his children, his niece and his parents' anniversary take place in it. He just can't figure how these mothers always know everything about their sons and wonders if science will ever have a solution for it. Ahead of his upcoming release Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara, he talks to TOI about how much he misses his father, why martial arts needs to be made compulsory for girls and how he can beat Tina (Twinkle) hands down at cooking. Excerpts:

Let's talk about your family background?
My dad was a Punjabi from Amritsar and my mom is a Punjabi from Kashmir. My dad was a soldier in the Indian Army. He left the army to join as an accountant in UNICEF in Delhi where I was born. When I was three, he was transferred to Mumbai where we stayed in a 100 rented hall in Sion Koliwada where we had the kitchen on one side, a dining table and bathroom on one side and a room in the middle. I was lucky to get admission in a big school like Don Bosco for a small thing I had done. My father told me, when we had gone there for admission, I picked up a paper lying on the floor and threw it in a waste-paper basket on my own. Father Gatty saw me doing that and gave me admission without even interviewing me. I would always spend more time in the gallis playing than studying. My father, before joining the army, was a wrestler himself who had represented Punjab and realised that I was more interested in sports than studies. I initially joined karate in class VII, influenced by a neighbour of mine who would show off in front of girls, which made me feel humiliated as a boy. But then, I started falling in love with it. I joined Khalsa College just opposite Don Bosco in class XI, but soon I quit studies and was sent to Bangkok by my father to learn martial arts, as that is the only place we could afford given that I would also work there to support my training. So, I trained in Thai boxing and Tai Chi and am a six-degree black belt holder (there would be only about 15 across India). In Bangkok, I joined Metro guest house where there was a restaurant below and a guest house above. I would cook and serve food there to the guests.

When did you return to Mumbai?
After three years in Bangkok, I worked in Dhaka for six months post which I worked for two years in New Market Kolkata after which I started a small business of selling artificial jewellery in Delhi. I would buy jewellery worth 40,000 in Delhi and come and sell it in Mumbai for a 20% margin. I then returned to Mumbai when I was 22 and started teaching martial arts for 5,000 a month. One day, somebody saw me and offered me a modelling assignment for a furniture store where I had to sit with some models on some furniture and I made 21,000. The mind started seeing the amount of money I could make as a model vs working the whole month for just 5,000. I was also part of a dance group where we would freelance in Shanmukhananda Hall. I have danced behind Govinda and Jackie Shroff. I did not know how to dance, but I knew martial arts, so initially my dance looked like aerobics.

A lot in your life is connected to your martial arts training. What do you like the most about it?
Apart from the fact that it teaches you to defend yourself, it teaches you how to respect others. It teaches you to be humble. That is what I love the most about it. If you are in Bangkok, you will find that people there will never speak to you without joining their hands. It's not that they are speaking to you like that because you are tourists. They even speak at their home like that. When I returned to India, it had become my habit to join my hands when I spoke. It's my goal to make martial arts compulsory for girls in school. In China, you have to do two years of martial arts' training without which you cannot get a graduation degree. There is so much violence and action in martial arts that when you come out in the world, your mind does not think of violence as it takes out all your anger. Therefore, I believe that countries with martial arts will be more peaceful and not as physically violent as others who don't have it.

Let's talk about your father?
If I have got a jolt in my life, it is when he died of cancer in 2000. We all don't know much about so many things. I didn't know that every man needs to check his PSA after the age of 45. Had I known about it, I would not have lost my father. He was detected with cancer in his third stage and I lost him within just two years of that. I was a star by that time and had taken him everywhere where I could and did whatever I could afford. I was most attached to him. He gave me company in everything I did. When I would represent volleyball in school, he would be the only father who would be there. He would come and watch and bring water and energy drinks for me and even my opponents. He was more like a water boy and served water to every one as he was so much in love with sports. He would call some of my friends and make us wrestle and if any of us cried, he would treat us to chocolates. I am here today only because of his decision to allow me to go to Bangkok and learn martial arts against forcing me to study. There is no film we missed seeing as a family. Every Saturday, my dad, mom, sister and I would go and watch a movie with my mango stick and Guru Kripa ka samosa at Rupam Cinema, which has now become a mall. Even when we later shifted to Bandra East, we used to go to Kalamandir and also Badal Bijlee Barkha in Matunga. My dad was a big fan of Dharmendra and Dara Singh. I remember going and watching every single wrestling match of Dara Singh fighting King Kong. My father was proud of me throughout, but was most happy when he first saw me on screen. He would take people in his office to see my films. I learnt to be punctual and calm from him. I always miss him. He is the first person I see every morning. I have not put my wife's photo, but his photo on my mobile. My film company is named after him — Hari Om Productions ( his name was Hari Om Bhatia). I need him everyday. All my decisions take place through my phone only, so actually they are taken by him only.

You are training your son Aarav in martial arts. Do you talk to him about your father?
I try and explain to him so many things saying, 'Dadaji used to do it like that'. I showed him his dadaji's Churchgate office and our old home at Sion. This time I went to Bangkok, I took him to Metro guest house and the kitchen where I used to work and showed him that. I still cook sometimes. Tina doesn't know cooking at all, so this time we went to New York, we both enrolled ourselves in a cooking class. People who were teaching us cooking knew I had done Master Chef and asked me, 'Why have you come to learn?'

Who is the better cook between the both of you?
Obviously me.

What attracted you to Tina?
Her honesty. She is extremely honest. I am diplomatic. For instance, if you take both of us to see a movie which we don't like and the producer asks, 'Bhabhiji, kaisi movie lagi?' She will immediately say, 'S**t film hai'. Whereas I would say, 'Nahi, achhi hai, thodi kaat ke achhi ban sakti hai'. She has a whacky sense of humour and can keep the whole family rolling with laughter.

Who is your emotional anchor?
It was always my father, but after him no one. I am very strong. I don't talk much even within the industry and mostly am friendly only to my work.

You are self-made. You must be a proud man?
I have got more than what I had ever dreamt of. I remember, I did my first photo session just outside this wall of my house on Juhu beach. I was not being allowed to do it on this land on which I now live. I was assisting photographer Jayesh Sheth at that time and had once done a photo shoot of Sangeeta Bijlani. I had to go and show her the pictures at Filmalaya where I met Govinda sir who was the only one to tell me, 'Yaar, tum hero kyun nahi ban jaate ho'?

Directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara! is an Indian crime gangster film .A sequel to the 2010 film Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, the film will feature Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan in leading roles, and Sonali Bendre in a supporting role.The film is scheduled to be released on the Independence Day, 15th August, 2013. The release date of the film was pushed further by the producers to avoid clashing with Rohit Shetty’s upcoming film Chennai Express which is releasing one week earlier.This is the third collaboration between Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha as a pair (after 2012 films Rowdy Rathore and Joker), and the first between Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan.



The movie takes off from where the previous film ended with Shoaib Khan (Akshay Kumar) being the reigning don after assassinating his mentor, Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgn) thus earning the respect and reverence of the people. He is the charismatic and suave man with womanising skills who has extended his empire upto the Middle east on the west. His sole companions and friends are Javed, who oversees his illegal and shady works for him, his old-time love Mumtaz (Sonali Bendre) and Aslam (Imran Khan), a youth spotted by Shoiab during one of his visits to the slums, where he once spent the early years of his life.

The only obstacles on Shoaib’s path to supremacy in Bombay are two enemies of Shoaib, Vardha and Arun. Sreenu, a police officer join hands with Vardha and Arjun as the trio’s intention of ruining Shoaib coincides.

Although the city still being his first love a rising starlet, Yasmin has caught the fancy of Shoaib’s heart. In due time this passion takes the shape of obsession and leads to a rift between Shoaib and Aslam as they both vie for Yasmin’s love.

It was being positioned as the clash of the titans when the dates of release were being announced, i.e. Shahrukh Khan and Akshay Kumar clashing at the box office on the same day i.e. Eid in August 2013 with their two magnum opuses CHENNAI EXPRESS of SRK and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI DOBARA of Akshay Kumar, but suddenly it was announced last night that OUATIMD has been postponed by a week and would now be released on 15th August.

Is it a fear of SRK walking away with all the laurels as he has the backing of the master of entertainment, Rohit Shetty and the trailer of the film that has been released yesterday underlines the fact that it is pure entertainment Rohit Shetty style with all his usual masala, but with a twist that this time around the landscapes that have been captured in the movie are enthralling.

On the other hand OUATIMD is a film that tries to capture the era of gangsters, i.e. it is more a film reconstructing the era of the past and therefore there was some kind of apprehension in the minds of producers whereby they took a decision to shift its release to 15th August! Or is it plain business sense that has guided this decision on the part of Balaji Films?