Brand wars for Ekta's Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai sequel

It may be one of the most-awaited sequels in Bollywood, but even before Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2 (OUATIM) hits the floors, a slew of upmarket brands — around 18 of them — have approached producer Ekta Kapoor for exclusive tie-ups. But Ekta is clear she won’t be able to fit in all the offers in the sequel to her 2010 hit.

It may be one of the most-awaited sequels in Bollywood, but even before Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2 (OUATIM) hits the floors, a slew of upmarket brands — around 18 of them — have approached producer Ekta Kapoor for exclusive tie-ups. But Ekta is clear she won’t be able to fit in all the offers in the sequel to her 2010 hit.

Akshay-Kumar-plays-the-role-of-underworld-don-Dawood-Ibrahim-in-Once-Upon-A-Time-In-Mumbaai-2-The-actor-is-said-to-be-donning-three-different-looks-for-the-film

“We are surprised with the brands’ interest in the film, despite it being a male-centric film set in the 70s. Out of all, fashion brands comprises a big number, though half of them are male-centric products such as cologne, cars and bikes,” says Ekta. “It’s parallel to any Khan (Aamir, Shah Rukh, Salman) films. As per industry research, it has never happened to a Balaji or any other film. Such attraction by brands is simply unparalleled. But we want to stay true to the film and its storyline. Milan (Luthria; director) has told me that he can incorporate only five or six brands,” informs the producer.

Since the film stars biggies like Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and the newest Khan on the block, Imran, a number of brands endorsed by the actors have also approached Ekta. “Since the last draft of the script is being worked upon, we will incorporate these brands in the narrative seamlessly. Later, we don’t intend to fiddle with the script,” she insists.

Ekta also informs that certain brand representatives directly got in touch with her. “Few of them even offered long-term tie-ups,” laughs Ekta. “Probably, the fact that the entire team (from OUATIM) is coming together is attracting a lot of brands,” adds the producer, saying “three of them have to be incorporated since the offers are very tempting.” The film goes on floors in a couple of months.