Review of Apne (2007) by Anusha C — 20 Aug 2008

Apne has real emotion in it, and it is one of the few movies of recent times which feels like it has come straight from the heart.

The Deols are great together - it was interesting that they weren't all lovey-dovey - the negativity from Dharmendra's character towards his eldest son was something I definitely didn't expect.

What I really liked about this film is that it showed suffering in the past - this is a true aspect of life which is rarely touched upon in movies! Life's tough, and many people have to struggle to get where they are - seeing this in the characters in the movie makes them more easy to relate to. I wanted them to win their matches as I had grown to like the characters, not purely on the basis that they are the heroes.

The negative points - it is a bit looong! Also, Bobby wanted to be a popstar - he readily had a drastic career change for the sake of his family - but without any semblance of regret! A bit unrealistic. And while boxers seem to train for years, these guys did it in around a month. But... as with all Bollywood films, it has a 'Bolly license'allowing it to do this!

Luca was great - usually non-desi actors seem to be just anyone picked up off the street, but he could really act!

The girls in the movie serve their purpose - to look pretty! There's not much scope for them.

A few songs are good.

Dharmendra has done a great job - he deserves awards! He had a range of emotions to portray and he was very convincing - way better than in his small role in Metro.

Quite a classy movie, even though it's about boxing!