Mumbai:
Milan Luthria has set the sequel of 'Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai' on a bigger stage and though he is aware of the risks, the director says it was interesting to take the same story forward with new actors.
The original film starred Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi but in the sequel 'Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara', Akshay Kumar has replaced Hashmi as Shoaib with Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha playing new characters.
The Balaji Motion Pictures film releases on August 15. "In 'The Godfather' trilogy, same character was played by Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro.
Similarly, it was an interesting experiment for me to introduce new actors. Emraan could not have played the role because we needed an older actor to play Shoaib in the sequel," Luthria told in an interview.
The director admits that the experiment was not easy but he is confident that it will benefit the franchise. He has earlier denied that the film is inspired by Dawood Ibrahim or Chhota Shakeel.
"I have retained the essence of Shoaib's character. He is evil, flamboyant, enigmatic and unpredictable but I have let Akshay interpret it in his own way.
The equations have changed this time. While Shoaib was the protege in the original film, he is the mentor in the sequel," Luthria added.
The original film was about the power struggle between two gangster but Luthria has brought in a beautiful woman to create conflict this time.
"I am attempting a love story in the gangster setting. This time it is about matters of the heart. 'The Dirty Picture' helped me find a loyal female audience and I wanted to reconnect with them again with the love triangle."
