Kangana Ranaut meets Haji Mastan's wife

Before playing the alluring star Sona who Haji Mastan wins over in Milan Luthria’s Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, Kangana Ranaut has made up her mind to meet the smuggler’s love interest on whose life the film is based. Says an excited Kangana, “You could call it either the love interest or interesting love. But the don and the actress shared such an amazing relationship. He made her laugh all the time and she liked that. He gave her all the attention and love she craved for.”

So fascinated was Kangana with the character that she decided to track down Sona. Sona lives quietly, away from the public eye, in Mumbai. Sona was one of the many starlets in Bollywood in 1970s. Haji was so besotted by her that he asked his filmmaker friends to cast her in their films. He produced a few films for her and friend Raj Khosla even made Kachche Dhaage (1973) with Sona in a pivotal role, but her career never really took off.

Finally, after a lot of hunting, Kangana has tracked down Sona, and is all set to meet her. “Yes, I am going to meet Sona soon. That’s going to be a crucial part of my preparation to play the character,” she says.

Apparently, Haji was in love with Sona because she resembled his favorite actress Madhubala. Interestingly this isn’t the first time that Kangana would be playing such a character. In Anurag Basu’s Gangster, she played Abu Salem’s moll. But Kangana was unable to meet Monica Bedi then, on whom Kangana’s character was modeled. This would be Kangana’s third biographical character, after Monica and later, Parveen Babi in Woh Lamhe.