Apne : Good to watch with apne

Rating : * * *

Starcast : Dharmendra and others (including Bobby Deol, Sunny Deol, Victor Bannerjee, Javeid Sheikh, Aryan Vaid, Kiron Kher, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina kaif and divya dutta, along with politician Amar Singh and Bhagwant mann in guest appearance).
Art : Sanjay dhabade
Action : Tinu Verma
Choreography : Ahmad khan
Screenplay : Neeraj Pathak
Cinematography : Kabir lal
Producer : Rahul Sughand
Banner : Galmour entertainment Pvt ltd.
Director : Anil Sharma

A legendary actor , finally got his piece of cake. In my review on Metro, I have mentioned that Dharamji’s role was not justified and he needs better matured role. This time he hits the bulls eye.

The movie talks about self respect, dignity, family values, love, emotions, sports spirit, and friendship . Different relations and emotions woven perfectly in this 3+ hour celluloid drama.

The story started well, but looses the pace somewhere in between. It again picked up the pace in second half. This could be one of the best examples of worst script writing (Fanaa is yet another example). The story drags a lot as there is hardly anything to offer in first half. Thank god, it picked up in the second half.

Even with the slow story narration, it manages to keep audience engaged, because of powerful perfomances, extraordinary cinematography, perfect action sequences and equally good background score. All the boxing sequences are so gripping that you can feel the punches, the blood, and the severity of the situation.

The songs are the big let down of the movie. All the songs irritates in the movie. Only "Dekhoon tujhe to pyar" is good melody and is also choreographed well.

Apne belongs to veteran actor Dharmendra . So what, if he is in his seventies, he has proved that age is no bar for an actor like him. sunny and bobby looked like his children, even when it comes to acting. Believe me, this is the best acting I have seen from any of the actors in the movies released till date this year in hindi cinema. I wish, he will get his first best actor award this time. This is the fifth time Anil and Dharamji teamed up, and their 80’s magic still remains.(They have earlier worked on Elan-e-jung, Hukumat, Farishtay and. Tehalaka).



Bobby Deol has got fair chance to show his acting skills, and he deserves full marks. I believe, he is one of the most underrated actors in the industry(He has shown some spark in the initial phase of his career, and than faded with bad selection of movies). Although Bobby's body doesn’t looked like a boxer, he has delivered his role perfectly.

Sunny looked good in a rather unconventional role. It was good to see him in a constrained role, with just one shout scene(too less for die hard sunny’s fans). All the scenes between him and papa Dharmendra are so touching and emotional, that you will burst out of tears.

The ladies (Kiron kher, Shilpa shetty, Katrina kaif and divya dutta) hardly have anything to offer as far as the story demands, but they have done their job perfetly. Kiron kher is as good as she always is. Katrina looked amazingly beautiful. Shilpa is refreshing. Divya dutta too leaves the impact.

What to watch out for :
1> Award winning performance by Dharmendra.
2> Excellent performance by all.
3> Lot of emotional bonding and love.
4> Values of dignity, self respect,
5> Extraordinary fights scenes in the boxing ring.
6> Background music and special effects.

What not to watch out for :
1> Poor script writing and slow narration.
2> A bad music by HR.

Best Dialogue :
1> Agar meri umra ki category ke liye koi competition ho, to shauk se bulaiye. I will compete to win.
2> Fair enough, so, I will kill you in the ring, and, that will be the official death.
3> and lot more from Dharamji...


I missed Anil Sharma’s Favourite Late Ambrish Puri Ji. His demise was a great loss of Indian film industry.

Suggestion to Anil Sharma.
Anil Ji, post Gadar, there is a visible trend that you are focussing more on technicalities of the movie.(You was critisied badly for poor special effects and bad editing of gadar). We appreciate that there is significant improvement in this area. But, still, a good story is a backbone of a good movie. If you concentrate more on the story and script writing, you may give industry another Gadar. But, if you keep ignoring script in your next vnetures, you may see empty halls as well.

You may also want to read my other reviews here

What does * means
*         Waste of time and money.

* *       Please avoid this stuff

* * *     Can be watched once

* * * *   A must watch

* * * * * You can't afford to miss this one.