Apne: Welcome to Deol family reunion!!

After a long break of few weeks, I was finally able to watch a film. The backlog was quite heavy already due to the gap, which had already started giving me the itchiness. And boy, how the hell did I make a start-over! I sat through a long 173 minutes to watch a family reunion!! YES, it’s the tri-deol ‘Apne’!! The team of Gadar, a huge blockbuster, sort of reunited and ill-conceived a plot which intended to cash in on their favorite jingoism called ‘patriotism’.

There’s no denial that the story have had a good potential. And it started well too. Baldev Singh, a silver medal winning Indian boxer, was desperately holding on to life in a bid to wash the stigma that West had wrongly inflicted upon him. His hopes, first by his elder son Angad (Sunny Deol) and later through a local boxer he coached, were all crashing down as they ditched him; though, for different purposes. Baldev was getting more and more depressed until an accident brought him a blessing in disguise, when his younger son (Bobby Deol), who was partly paralytic, had had a miraculous recovery. The son decided to bring his father back the honor by joining boxing and participating into an international boxing challenge.

All was well until then. As the plot progressed further, the film was suddenly out of gas and looked like dragging along. Fighting scenes, which could have been the main draws, were below standard with unnecessary slow motioned stuffs, very predictable outcomes and over-sentimental touch-ups; eventually ruining the good foundation. The music was only worth reaching out for the mute button 🙂 as Himesh Reshamiya was likely focusing on his own movie – aannp knaa snurooooooor!!

Finally, Apne fails to connect as a whole barring a few occasional glories lying amidst a pile of disposals. i personally feel that it’s the poor presentation that crippled a good storyline. While the seniors – Dhramendra, Victor Banerjee and Kiran Kher sparkled, the younger Deols were consistent in delivering stupid and forgettable performances.

Trade reports, however, indicate an ‘Above Average’ status, possibly due to its strong show in northern India. It has also been a ‘success’ in the overseas – a fact that makes me wonder if the NRIs have collectively acquired a flair for non-substantial gimmicks (another example being Namaste London).

Songs i liked:

Mehfooz

Dekhhon tumhe to

Apne

Aankh Vich

Awarapan: So close yet so far…

From the Bhatts’ stable, ‘Vishesh’, comes another not-so-special movie ‘Awarapan‘, directed by Mohit Suri of ‘Woh Lamhe/Kalyug/Zeher’ fame. Mohit Suri is one of the finest emerging story-tellers, so i believe, who knows how to deliver a commercially viable package, mixing the right ingredients at the right places. Though he does that quite well in Awarapan, but somehow loses it down the line; too much of blood and violence become spoilers at the end. However, Awarpan comes with a few good things that should see it home with a ‘Should watch‘ label around; an interesting though lifted/inspired story (Korean Film – DALKOMHAN INSAENG), some refreshing musical tracks by Pritam, few good performances including otherwise-intolerable Emraan Hashmi (Ashtosh Rana is cut above the rest), and a seasoned handling of characters within a neat flow of events. though the movie starts very well in the beginning and keeps you on the edge, it somehow fumbles in the second half leaving the viewers wanting for more…

[Trailer]

Listen Songs:
Maula mera maula

Toh Fir aao

Tera mera rishta

Mahiya