 Anil Sharma’s Apne, right from the fuzzy-warm title — is meant for fans of Dharmendra, and those who place nostalgia high up on their entertainment criteria. For the film is an unabashedly old-fashioned ode to the traditional family, in which sons are expected to sacrifice their ambitions for their father’s wishes, and women, of course, have no say in anything.
Baldev Singh (Dharmendra made to look impossibly young) used to be a boxing champ, whose success was cut short by a trumped up doping charge. He challenged the bad Yankees that his son would return and redeem his honour. The son, Angad (Sunny Deol) followed his father’s obsession up to a point, then gave it up for the financial security of the family. Since the younger son Karan (Bobby Deol) has a paralysed arm, he is exempted from boxing, and Baldev spends many years in bitter rage, refusing to speak to Angad.
 He is hopeful once more when his friends (Victor Bannerjee-Javed Shaikh) bring him an ambitious young boxer (Aryan Vaid) to coach, but this one ditches him too, for a foreign coach. Witnessing his father’s pain and frustration, Karan’s arm gets miraculously cured, and he goes on to become a top boxer. The only goal left to achieve is to beat the world champ Luca Gracia (Chris Anderson).
The foreigners are fighting for money and fame, and will resort to cheating to win, the Indians fight for family, country and honour, so there’s no doubt about who’ll triumph — the Indian joint family, naturally! And who understands that better than a Bollywood family that still has the lifestyle they portray in the movies. If the mushiness of Apne, does not jar, it’s because of its real-life echoes. Dharmendra almost retired and let his sons take over the mantle of his stardom. Sunny Deol has had his time at the top, Bobby Deol hung on without major success, so every time there is a a dip in the Deol brand equity, Sunny comes back with a roar. Which is pretty much what happens to the Chaudhary family in the film and the stars don’t even have to act to portray it — it’s genuine clan bonding.
The second half of the film is set in America, where Karan is competing for the world title. A lot of time is taken up by the training of the brothers and their 12-round matches with Luca (all inspired in style by Raging Bull and the Rocky series). This can be heavy going for those who do not like boxing and cannot stand violence of the bone-crunching, blood-spurting kind.
What Bollywood calls "family emotions" are the driving force of this film-and the ‘fan’ value of seeing the three Deols together in the film for the first time. Pity the women (Kirron Kher, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Divya Dutta) have so little to do; the music’s not too good either, that Apne to apne hote hain whine that goes on and on in the background is hardly chart-busting stuff.
What Bollywood calls "family emotions" are the driving force of this film-and the ‘fan’ value of seeing the three Deols together in the film for the first time. Pity the women (Kirron Kher, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Divya Dutta) have so little to do; the music’s not too good either, that Apne to apne hote hain whine that goes on and on in the background is hardly chart-busting stuff.
Apne movie Cast: Dharmandra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kirron Kher,shilps shetty ,katrina kaif
Director: Anil Sharma
Rating: *** |
