Mumbai Saga movie review and release LIVE UPDATES: Fans return to theatres to watch John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi starrer

Aditi Raval tweeted, "Just starter watching #MumbaiSaga ... background score... some one liner... and @TheJohnAbraham ki power pack action."

Twitter user @EmraanianZ shared a screen grab of Emraan Hashmi's introduction scene in Mumbai Saga.

Fans have been going gaga after Emran's performance.

John Abraham told PTI, "For me, the joy is reaching out to common people through my films because we are here to entertain them. I want to make good films. I don’t care about success and failure. I like to succeed in reaching out to more people. I want the audience to have that big screen experience. We lost that sense of big screen, heroism in films and Mumbai Saga will bring that back."

"Except for Amole Gupte, who is clearly enjoying himself, reminding one of similar roles he has played before, there really is no one who is self-aware enough to carry off this saga," writes The Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta.

Read the full review here

Ahead of the theatrical release of Mumbai Saga, John Abraham told PTI, "The OTT platform is a great avenue and an option. But for me, it has always been about the big screen, being a big screen hero. I won’t be available for subscription fee."

Abhishek Bachchan, who will next be seen in The Big Bull, tweeted his wishes for Mumbai Saga.

Mumbai Saga director, writer and producer Sanjay Gupta said, "While narrating a story soaked in reality, one has to ensure that no aspect is barred from representation. For instance, when I was working on the story of Mumbai Saga for years together, the only thing that held my hand was the belief that I have to be true to the story, and I have to depict all the stakeholders in the story the way they were back in the day. Every character is a mix of several individuals who existed at that time in the said space. They’re real and yet, larger than life."

Suniel Shetty's post caption read, "Sada Anna hopes to see you in the theatres tomorrow! 19th March 2021 #mumbaisaga ????."

Sumit Kadel took to Twitter to post, "Sunil Shetty stands out in his role, rest of the supporting cast performances are weak specially villain played by Amole Gupte. Green & yellow color tone of the film is extremely irritating. Over all #MumbaiSaga is a poorly made film which’ll fail to rake good moolah at the BO."

Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, the other theatrical release of the week gets love from the audience too. "@Nikku_baba_ tweeted, "Just Finished FirstDayFirstShow of #SandeepAurPinkyFaraar This movie shows Perfect vision of a director and also @arjunk26 @ParineetiChopra. Shows Impactful perfomance and also supporting cast show Main Importance in film but last in the climax."

Sumit Kadel shared today's box office opening collection and tweeted, "BO opening today- #MumbaiSaga 10-12% #Sandeepaurpinkyfaraar 3-5 %."

It is a clash on the Box office today. Dibakar Banerjee's film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra in the lead roles, is also out in the cinemas.

What makes for a Sanjay Gupta film? The director is known for films like Kaante, Zinda and Shootout at Wadala, and returns to the director's chair with Mumbai Saga. With Mumbai Saga, Gupta is trying to bring back the classic Hindi film theatrical experience where every little detail is amped up and you realise that if this was not a theatre, then you would have probably turned the volume down. READ MORE

@KEmranians tweeted, "#MumbaiSaga Is "MAJESTIC"@TheJohnAbraham & @emraanhashmi Done Brilliant Job ..With Top Dialogue & Strong Acting The first half* is full of Action.  The second half* suits the Emotional scene Overall A Must* Watch Movie. #Rating : ??? Medium star #Emraan sir aap cha gaye Boss Love u."

@imshiva17 shared on Twitter, "#MumbaiSaga winning hearts   running successfully  #MumbaiSagaReview A Must Watched Mass Masala Entertainer  Rating : ??? Glowing star  3½ #JohnAbraham & #EmraanHashmi  looks effortlessly awesome @TheJohnAbraham @emraanhashmi."

@ygskPHu3Oi4EpVn tweeted, "#MumbaiSagaReview: It is a film that deserves to be experienced on the big screen. It is embellished with massy moments, clap worthy dialogues, sudden twists and loads of style. Ratings: ????."

A fan of Kajal Aggarwal, @KajalholicSRS tweeted, "#MumbaiSaga . Full Masala Action Entertainment . John Vs Emran @MsKajalAggarwal performed well as a college life girl frnd & Wife . Her pairing with John looks lovely . Climax was emotional . Another Hit in Bwood #KajalAggarwal."

@ShaikhI74160378 shared via Twitter, "#MumbaiSaga #MumbaiSagaReview : It's Mind Blowing...Fantastic..The Fight Battles Between @TheJohnAbraham and  @emraanhashmi is Superp.... Outstanding @_SanjayGupta Rating: ????."

@RahulVerma4860 shared on Twitter, "#MumbaiSaga is full 'PAISA WASOOL ENTERTAINER ' !!  Seeti maar dialogues, Cat and mouse chase between @TheJohnAbraham and @emraanhashmi , BGM and top notch action sequences makes it a complete masala film . Masses will relish this one ! Emran hashmi is the lifeline... Three stars."

@c_pohkar tweeted, "MOVIE REVIEW- Movie can be remembered for its Power packed punch and dialogue, #JohnAbraham excel in is his dialogue delivery, #EmraanHashmi is prefect choice for the role. @TheJohnAbraham @emraanhashmi Must experience this movie in theatre. #MumbaiSagaReview."

Emraan Hashmi was last seen in a grey role in Milan Luthria’s Once Upon in Mumbai. On returning to the gangster thriller genre with Mumbai Saga after a long time, Emraan said in an interview to indianexpress.com, "It is difficult to constantly surprise people in a genre, especially a gangster genre, hence I didn’t pick up a gangster script all these years, they were not offering that surprise factor, all of it seemed like a copy of something that is already done, but this (Mumbai Saga) is unique in its time and the narrative."

Mumbai Saga star Emraan Hashmi shared in an interview with indianexpress.com, "When Sanjay came to discuss Saga, I had pre-decided that he has come to offer a gangster role, I don’t know why. I was very pleasantly surprised when he said, ‘You’re playing a cop’. After that, I was quite anxious because I didn’t want to play a straight-jacketed uni-dimensional cop. And then Sanjay said that this cop is no less than a gangster."

Sumit Kadel gave the film two stars and wrote, "#MumbaiSaga 2 star OUTDATED. Barring powerful one liners, nothing holds your attention in the film. John & Emraan decent act couldn’t rise above the shoddily written script. Its a gangster drama which lacks novelty & thrills. Sanjay’s direction is a major letdown. #MumbaiSagaReview."

Talking about the role, Emraan Hashmi opened up in the interview about how he doesn’t like playing simple and straightforward characters and likes to “chew-on” more layered and grey roles. The actor said, "When Sanjay said that Inspector Vijay Savarkar (Emraan’s character in Mumbai Saga) is a gangster in uniform, I got excited because I had something to chew on in this film. I have never seen characters as black or white, all the characters I have done live in a grey world, which I find to be very relatable."

At Mumbai Saga's trailer launch, John Abraham spoke about how larger-than-life crime thrillers have actually made up a good portion of his career and given him popularity amongst his fans. He said, "I think Mumbai Saga is giving us the opportunity to go back to the masses, where we belong. For people like me, my career was made on screens, so why can’t I reach out to them. I will rather go back to them and cater to these audiences. And, I enjoy playing gangster with Sanjay, it is like auto pilot for me."

Mumbai Saga star Kajal Aggarwal shared two photos from the sets and tagging the director and actors, she wrote, "big shout out, sending lots of love and excitement your way !"

Taran Adarsh gave Mumbai Saga 3.5 stars and wrote, "#OneWordReview... #MumbaiSaga: POWER-PACKED. Rating: 3 and a ½ star. Action-packed entertainer with powerful dialogue... #JohnAbraham terrific, #EmraanHashmi impactful, #MaheshManjrekar, #AmolGupte superb... First hour razor-sharp, second half good... Mass entertainer! #MumbaiSagaReview."

A Twitter user @UmairSandu took to Twitter to post, "EXCLUSIVE First Review #MumbaiSaga from UAE Censor Board ! On the whole, It is a paisa vasool entertainer. Brutal and electrifying. @TheJohnAbraham  & @emraanhashmi gave Top Notch Performances. @_SanjayGupta delivers a solid punch! Go for it. 4 stars."

Emraan Hashmi tweeted, "Catch the Face-Off between #JohnKaGang & #EmraanKiForce IN CINEMAS TOMORROW!"

Mumbai Saga's writer Vaibhav Vishal took to Twitter to post, "My film Mumbai Saga is releasing tomorrow. It's a high. Thank you, @_SanjayGupta  for you being you. Thank you  @TheJohnAbraham, @emraanhashmi, @SunielVShetty, @GulshanGroverGG, @rohitroy500 and everybody else for giving life to some of my lines. Thank you, world, for good vibes!" He added, "Since Twitter wasn't allowing me to include everybody in my first tweet, here are the rest of the awesome people that must be duly tagged and acknowledged. :) @MsKajalAggarwal, @anjanasukhani, @Shaadrandhawa, @VivaanParashar, @manjrekarmahesh @samirsoni123."

"Tomorrow 19 th March our film #MumbaiSaga will be in theatres," tweeted the ace actor.

On the eve of Mumbai Saga's release, John Abraham tweeted, "A LION amongst the Wolves! Amartya is born to Rule! The conspiracy is hatched, but can anyone stop Amartya's Rise to claim Mumbai as his own. It's a war for Dominance! #MumbaiSaga IN CINEMAS TOMORROW."