Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Actors May 2026
Let’s pull back the velvet curtain on the three leads: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, and Kangana Ranaut. Their real stories, struggles, and techniques are as dramatic as the film itself. Ajay Devgn played Sultan Mirza—a fictionalized version of the real-life don Haji Mastan. Sultan is a man who wants to be a kingpin with a conscience: he smuggles gold but builds hospitals, wears white khadi, and quotes Urdu poetry.
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. once upon a time in mumbai actors
This was the film that broke Emraan Hashmi out of his "serial kisser" cage. Luthria took a massive risk casting him. At the time, critics saw Hashmi as a B-grade romantic hero. But Hashmi has admitted in interviews that he channeled a deep, personal rage into the role. He was tired of being underestimated. That raw hunger you see in Shoaib’s eyes? That’s not acting—that’s an actor fighting for legitimacy. Let’s pull back the velvet curtain on the