'Kabhi Haji, kabhi naji!'

The film-makers of Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, a film which had got lots of publicity as Ajay Devgan was set to play Haji Mastan, are doing a complete U-turn now by saying that there is no character in their film which is based on the smuggler-turned-film producer.

“There is no character in our film which is inspired by Haji’s life. In fact the reports are nothing but media speculation. Ajay’s character is just a character in the film. The film is about Mumbai of the ‘70s where big gangsters ruled the city but there is no direct resemblance to anyone,” director Milan Luthria told us.

Interesting comment since Milan had earlier come on record with us saying, “Since the film is about gangsters and the underworld of the ‘70s, we have drawn instances from the lives of gang lords of those days like Haji Mastan, Karim Lala and Vardarajan.”
His star cast was also candid about their characters.

“The character will be inspired by Haji Mastan, but I won’t be copying him,” Ajay had said in an earlier interview. Kangna Ranaut had also come on record saying that she would be meeting Haji’s wife Sona who was one of the starlets of the 1970s to prepare for the character and know more about their romance and relationship.

It seems like reports about Haji’s daughter Shamshad Supari-wala contemplating to sue the film-makers has apparently made them go on a back-foot. Sources say that the original character sketch of Ajay is being changed so that it doesn’t exactly resemble Haji to avoid complications.

An industry insider says, “The news that Ajay is playing Haji and Kangna his beloved wife has been so circulated that his family has got curious about how Haji’s life is being presented on celluloid. But now the film-makers are thinking of avoiding any direct reference to Haji as obviously they don’t want any roadblocks for the film.”