PremiumOnce Upon Two Times film review: Debutant director Sonakshi Mittal gives many reasons to smile through Sanjay Suri, Mrinal Kulkarni and Nitesh Pandey!
Directed by Sonakshi Mittal, Onec Upon Two Times stars Sanjay Suri, Mrinal Kulkarni and and Nitesh Pandey. Here’s our review of the Zee 5 movie.
Last Updated: 03.01 AM, Dec 29, 2023
Once Upon Two Times happens to be that feel-good film which primarily stars Sanjay Suri, Mrinal Kulkarni, Nitesh Pandey, Kashish Khan and Anud Singh Dhaka. Because there are so many films with starting from ‘Once Upon …’., one really hopes that this film just does not get lost on that crowd because of its quirky title.
Once Upon Two Times review
The film starts off with an extremely relatable and believable college romance between Ruhi Roongta (Kashish Khan) and Ahaan Awasthi (Anud Singh Dhaka). Besides being a college student, Ahaan also dabblies in singing simultaneously. And music for him is totally incomplete without seeing the love of his life Ruhi in front of his eyes. Ahaaan lives with his father Kaushik Awasthi (Sanjay Suri), who tries his best to fill the vacuum left by his wife in Ahaan’s life.
On the other hand, there exists the parents of Ruhi, who are a typical middle-class family consisting of Nipun Roongta (Nitesh Pandey), a man who believes in living life to the fullest and his partner of a lifetime is Purnima Roongta (Mrinal Kulkarni). One day, Nipun gives Purnima the shock of her life by saying that he has resigned from his existing company because he doesn’t want to be at anyone’s mercy. He also adds that his boss has sponsored a vacation trip to a hill station for him and his family.
Both the families decide (individually) to go for a hill station picnic. As luck would have it, both the families check into the same hotel! Just as when everything was going normal (read ‘as per planned’), destiny drops a bombshell of sorts when both the families get to know that Ruhi and Ahaan’s parents were actually college sweethearts! And because their friendship could not be carried forward to culminate into a marriage, the lovebirds called it quits and had drifted apart!
This is followed by a flashback of events that mirrors the love story of Purnima and Kaushik, which they narrate to Ruhi and Ahaan respectively. But a few moments later, due to a sudden turn of events, the two young lovebirds Ruhi and Ahaan decide to part ways. Will they too meet the same fate as their parents or will they rewrite history on their own terms is what forms the rest of the film.
First things first. The debutante director Sonakshi Mittal announces her arrival on the Bollywood scene with this film. She is totally apt in handling any kind of situation. Be it love, anger or flaring of egos, she has handled all the departments without going astray or even going overboard! If this film is anything to go by, then, Sonakshi is definitely a name to watch out for in the years to come.
As for the performances, the audiences will be in a dilemma to single out any one particular actor for delivering a wholesome performance. This is because all the lead actors have given nothing but their best to the film. And this earnestness in their craft is what makes every scene of the film come alive. There is never a dull moment in the film.
Right from the word go, the film simply owns you and makes you smile throughout till the end. Be it the film’s lead pair Anud Singh Dhaka, Kashish Khan or even Sanjay Suri or Mrinal Kulkarni or Nitesh Pandey, the film belongs equally to each one of them. There are a few outstanding scenes in the film. One such scene happens to be Sanjay Suri’s intoxicated midnight singing!
As far as the music of the film is concerned, even though it's melodious, it doesn’t have a lasting impression and has no recall value. The film’s cinematography is a classic example of how a simple film can be made without even a single shot done by VFX and CGI. Even though the film picks up in its first half, it slows down and loses its pace in the second half. The film’s editing in the second half could have made the film look more crispier.
Once Upon Two Times verdict
Overall, the film, Once Upon Two Times is definitely a feel-good film and will surely work wonders with positive word of mouth. All in all, its a highly recommended film, which is your 'entertaiment equivalent 'of a weekend resosrt after a hard and tiring week!