Recently it was reported that for her latest film production ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’, Ekta Kapoor hiked the art direction budget from Rs 8 crores to Rs 15 crores. In fact, she had seen the rushes of this Milan Luthria directed movie and was left so much impressed that she didn’t hesitate in increasing the film’s budget even as many movie makers are busy with cut downs.

So what was it in the rushes that made Ekta Kapoor go gaga? Well, a little birdie informs that it was the presence of a certain Emraan Hashmi that did the trick.

Says the source, “The film’s first schedule is through and around 25 percent of the principal shoot is over. Emraan Hashmi has a tailor made role in the movie and what he has done so far is simply fabulous. It was his outstanding act that made her jump with excitement.”

“For a movie with a subject like this (70s underworld), it was always necessary to have a lavish budget for the film. Ekta wanted to first see what has been made so far and then make a decision. Emraan’s performance is what convinced her further and she was totally on board to spend those extra crores”, she adds.

In the film’s first schedule, Emraan and Prachi Desai had participated in the shoot. Ajay Devgan is yet to shoot for the movie and would be joining from the second schedule onwards.