Deol Dhamaka!: Melodrama overload: Apne (2007)

Everyone loves to pretend that the know celebrities personally. We read about their likes, dislikes, wishes, dreams, fears, hopes, etc. and develop a relationship with them from afar. And when celebrities draw you in to their inner circle by making you feel like a part of their family, the feeling of knowing them only increases. We start to feel personally invested in these people, in their successes and failures. We start to care about not only the individual stars, but their offspring too. It's kind of messed up, actually.

So when news of the film Apne started hitting the rounds, I was very excited. Seeing Dharmendra and his two sons together on-screen? Of course I wanted to see that! It was the first time we were going to see all three Deol men together, playing family members. You could tell from the early promos that it was going to be a sappy-sweet family drama, which did make me a bit apprehensive about it (I feared another K3G), so I didn't quite go rushing out to the theatres. In fact, I didn't get around to it at all until January 2011. And it certainly was a melodrama-fest, but not as god-awful as K3G ... perhaps thanks to the fact that most of the cast (excluding Booby Deol and Katrina Kaif) can actually act.

Running toward each other in slow motion! No, not the romantic couple. The two sons running toward their father!

The story is fairly simple -- Dharmendra plays Baldev, an ex-boxing champ who was accused of cheating at the height of his career and suspended from the league. He has never gotten over the loss of his career and broods about it constantly. Before the start of the film, he had tried to train his son, Angad (Sunny Deol), to bring glory back to his family by winning the boxing championship. Though initially successful, Angad eventually quits boxing because of financial strain in the family. Baldev has never forgiven Angad for quitting on him, and their relationship is basically non-existent. A secondary strain on their relationship exists because Angad is responsible for his younger brother Karan (Booby Deol)'s disability. Karan was injured when Angad, in trying to defend his mother against goons demanding money from her, accidentally causes debris to fall on him.

They can never resist using Dharam's glamour shots in his films today. He's sooo dreamy!

Despite Karan's injury, he is a budding rock star and romantically involved with a young doctor named Nandini (Katrina Kaif). Angad is also married to the lovely and spirited Simran (Shilpa Shetty) and has a young son. Baldev's wife Raavi (Kirron Kher) and Simran constantly try to hold the damaged, fraying family together, but Baldev's bitterness affects them all deeply.

The one-handed dance!

Unable to bear Baldev's unhappiness, Karan decides to forget his dreams of stardom and bring honor and dignity back to the family by taking up boxing. His girlfriend Nandini helps him through a medical procedure for "magic hand fix" (too bad this wasn't around for Mohnish Behl's character in Hum Saath Saath Hai), and he trains hard, eventually reaching the championship level in U.S.A.

 

HAHAHA! Katrina's ACTING you guys!

He is pitted against reigning champion Luca Gracia, and does quite well until Luca cheats. Karan is seriously injured (again! This guy has worse luck than a V.C. Andrews heroine) and hospitalized, and Baldev is devastated to see what his ambition has caused.

 

Hair sweat flying in slow-mo!

When Angad realizes what happened to Karan, he challenges Luca to fight him. Baldev, already brokenhearted, tries to tell Angad not to do it. He says there is no way he can train in time for the match, but Angad refuses to listen to anyone. He trains hard and funnels all of his rage and frustration into his boxing. Will he win the championship and restore Baldev to glory? Will Karan survive and marry Nandini? And WTH, they have a sister (Divya Dutta)?

 

THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING APNE

• I can't believe Apne was Katrina Kaif's 9th film. She is horrendously bad. She was so bad in this film that I had to actually LAUGH at her expressions. Especially her close-ups when Booby's getting the crap beat outta him.

LOL. Seriously. I was cracking up at her "acting" ...

• Booby Deol is not much better. I actually thought his acting was miserably bad in this movie.

• For some reason everyone in Apne has red-tinted hair. What was that all about? Are they the Weasleys?

• Watching Katrina try to dance in this song is hilarious, because she almost falls over:

• Booby Deol's fight scenes are excruciating to watch. He has MOOBS. And they jiggle, in slow motion.

 

• Divya Dutta is criminally underused. She is one "over-actress" that I actually enjoy.
• Sunny's character is a total masochist. Kind of like Akshay Kumar's character in Dhadkan.

• But then he transforms into CRAZYEYES!Sunny and it is awesome. Particularly when he's dropping gratuitous f-bombs. Except he doesn't quite get it right. I don't think you want to yell "I'LL F*CK YOU!" over and over to your enemy.

This is a little beyond CRAZY EYES, Sunny ...

• Besides the red, Dharam also develops a streak in his hair like Rogue from X-Men.

• Sunny and Shilpa's kid in this movie seems very ... "special" ...

• Dharam's character is one selfish baaaaastaaaard for the way he treats his entire family -- all for the sake of Eternal Glory. This ain't the Triwizard Tournament, Baldev. Interesting how in both this film and Yamla Pagla Deewana, Dharam plays a total selfish jerk that both his sons worship. Particularly Sunny, who is his punching bag in both films. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to be that guy in real life. Also, I did sincerely appreciate his acting in this film. He did indeed seem devastated; a shell of himself. And despite how selfish his character is, you do find yourself rooting for him.

• Ultimately Sunny's character Angad is the one I sympathized with the most. He is so sweet and humble, so saddened by his father's rejection of him, and so noble. His scenes of training also provide an AWESOMELY bad song.

 

All in all, despite making fun of it throughout the watching experience, I'll say I enjoyed the movie. It was heartwarming, tearjerking goodness - a shameless melodrama fest. The story itself was interesting enough in how it unfolded, and they added in little bits that I didn't expect (like Luca having his own motivations and weaknesses). Solid performances from Dharam, Sunny, Kirron and Shilpa outweighed the lackluster performances of Booby and Katrina. And ultimately, it's a celebration of family!

Thank you again to all the great friends and colleagues that made DEOL DHAMAKA such a blast. I can't believe we have over 100 links for Deol Dhamaka! Please be sure to visit the links list and check out all the fun and creativity that Deol Dhamaka inspired this month.

And I definitely have to give the renowned title of MISS DEOL DHAMAKA to one of my favorite BollyBloggers, Ness of Shahrukh is Love. Ness created a blog post for literally EVERY SINGLE DAY of Deol Dhamaka, and I think they are all brilliant and hilarious.

And much love to all the fabulous participants, all talented bloggers in their own right! The blogs below have far more to offer than just Deol Dhamaka fare, so I definitely recommend that you follow them!

• Totally Filmi
• Beth Loves Bollywood
• Shahrukh is Love
• Roti Kapada aur Rum
• Nayika Talks
• In praise of all things Dharmendra-related
• Perdue in Bollywood
• Pakhi Pakhi: Stranger in a Strange Land
• Nakhrewali's Nothing Big, Nothing Grand
• Bollywood Deewana
• My Year of Prakash Raj
• The Bombay Talkies
• Lime Reviews - Confessions of a Bollywood Addict

*if I have missed anyone inadvertently, please, please let me know!

C'EST MAGNIFIQUE! Garçon Garcia's FW collection

Garçon Garcia is an Argentinian brand, master at the art of making men look wonderfully sharp. The fall-winter collection mantains its sleek, fairly groomed and dainty Parisian style, focusing on jackets and shirts, on a black, gray and maroon color palette. The brand has also taken things a little bit further by chosing the young and upcoming actor, Ludovico Di Santo, as its poster boy. The city has been stricken by its refined and nifty image, proving that Garçon Garcia is a hit!

PH: www.facebook.com/GarconGarcia

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Oh Lord, my strength and Redeemer." -Psalm 19:14

10 Upcoming Big Fight Predictions

There are several key fights coming up in the next couple of months.

Here are 10 Upcoming Big Fight Predictions.

Marcos Maidana KO5 Eric Morales
~ Morales way past his best. Maidana on the way up.

Robert Guerrero KO 10 Michael Katsidis
~ Expect a bloody good fight. Katsidis stopped on cuts.

Tomasz Adamek KO 4 Kevin McBride
~McBride loses the fight on his feet, but never loses his heart.

Andre Berto W12 Victor Ortiz
~Berto wins a good close fight, Ortiz proves his mettle.

Amir Khan KO8 Paul McCloskey
~McCloskey tough & game but over matched against Khan.

Juan Manuel Lopez K06 Orlando Salido
~Lopez answers Gamboa with a KO of his own.

Abner Mares W12 Joseph Agbeko
~Mares younger and better.

Andre Ward W12 Arthur Abraham
~Super 6 favorite Ward impressive outboxing Abraham.

Bernard Hopkins W12 Jean Pascal
~Hopkins finally becomes the oldest boxer to win a World Title.

Glenn Johnson W12 Carl Froch
~Upset! The talented, ageless Johnson unseats Froch, advances to Super 6 Finals.

One really big upcoming fight is missing from this list. I have deliberately held off (for now) on making a prediction about the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight. I did this because I am not quite ready yet to commit to an official prediction about this fight. Many people think it will be an embarrassing, one sided blowout in favor of Manny Pacquiao but for some reason I do not subscribe to that thinking at all. While I tend to think Pacquiao should win, and probably will win but there is something about this match-up which leads me to believe that not only will Sugar Shane be competitive with The Pacman but that he just might have one last great performance left to possibly pull off the biggest upset in boxing since Frankie Randall stunned Julio Cesar Chavez in 1994, ending J.C. Superstar's historic unbeaten streak.

Classy to the Max!

Max Kellerman & I at MGM Grand

REALLY gotta get this off my chest because it's been bothering me. When did it get so hard for some people to have a boxing discussion  without insulting eachother and denigrating professional fighters with such low class, gutter level trash talk like Pactard & Gayweather etc? No matter how it's spun by the trash talkers, irregardless of their silly justifications; insulting fans and fighters with derogatory terms like that is ignorant and disrespectful. This is a pet peeve of mine right now, boxing fans who for whatever reason lack the ability to speak in respectful terms about fighters and fellow fight fans. Grow up people! Boxing is a gentleman's sport, act like gentlemen!

Speaking of respectful gentlemen, I recently had the great pleasure of meeting HBO boxing announcer Max Kellerman at the MGM Grand following Sergio Martinez's second successful middleweight title defense against Sergei Dzinziruk on March 12th. I simply cannot say enough about how highly I regard Mr. Kellerman as an announcer and as a fellow old school fight fan. It was nice to have a short chat with him; the quality I admire most about Max as an announcer for boxing is how incredibly respectful he is in his dealings with, and his discussions about fighters. Max is a much needed breath of fresh air following years of cringe worthy Larry Merchant moments.

Huh?

Best Filmfare Cover EVER!

As Madhuri Dixit spent those few last months in India, as a BIG Madhuri-fan, I was happy to get plenty of news, pictures of her. And among them was her photoshoot for a new Filmfare cover. She is back to the USA now, but there was still something I could look forward for... And I really had a pleasant surprise yesterday when I saw the cover. I think this is the best and most beautiful one ever.  And I just think it deserved a post on my blog... 

 

Her beauty always stuns me. She is too stunning for word. A real lady, millions times more beautiful than all the younger actresses altogether. I love her...

A Deol Dhamaka Sidebar: Hema the Knife

Deol Dhamaka is ending ... and I had SO many more films that I wanted to share as a part of this month-long celebration. Alas, time flies when you are having fun and I wasn't able to get to everything.

I had initially not considered Hema Malini to be a valid part of Deol Dhamaka -- somehow I felt Hema could potentially be deserving of a blogging week of her own at some point. But several of our friends have included her, and I had two Hema songs as ear worms today so I thought I would share them as a Deol Dhamaka sidebar.

Interestingly enough, both songs feature Hema skillfully wielding knives! Danger! It's not just her nasheeli nainon that you must be wary of! As soon as I realized I had Knife-brandishing Hema songs on the brain, I knew a post was brewing. I had to juxtapose! A lovely bonus to this is that both songs are from films that feature handsome hubby Dharmendra as Hema's hero. Score!

Now we all know Hema's no stranger to knives. After all, she had knife-throwing roles in both Sapnon Ka Saudagar and Seeta aur Geeta. Even Katrina Kaif is apparently seeking knife-throwing lessons from Hemaji (read the article here).

First, from one of the earliest Hindi films I remember seeing - "Qayamat Qayamat" from Ali Baba aur Chalis Chor (1980) - one of the films I had REALLY hoped to blog about during Deol Dhamaka (I am definitely still going to blog about it at some point - it features prominently in my Bollystalgia). This film was an Indo-Soviet co-production ... something I seriously did NOT know as a child. The cast includes Dharmendra as the title role of Ali Baba, Hema Malini as Marjeena, Zeenat Aman as Fatima, and a host of both Indian and Soviet actors as the 40 thieves (Aww Mac Mohan!). A classic fairy tale obviously based on one of the most popular tales from the Arabian Nights, but spiced up with some fabulous R.D. Burman numbers! And Dharam as Ali Baba? Come on! Who wouldn't love this?

So here's Hema doing her knife wielding thing in Ali Baba ...



The 2nd song is actually from a few years earlier, and is my favorite Dharam + Hema movie - Dream Girl (1977)! I loved this movie as a child, but I must admit, I haven't seen the full movie in many, many years. We had all of the songs recorded on a VHS tape and that is what I remember most, but I do vaguely remember the storyline that featured Dharam as the rich young playboy looking for love, and Hema and Asrani as con-artists with heart (they steal to provide for their home-based orphanage - and one of their orphans is a little Padmini Kohlapuri! Also among the orphans, lovely dancer Komal from Payal Ki Jhankaar). I had hoped to also do this movie for Deol Dhamaka, but ran out of time. I remember it being fun and having a crazy climax with some killer stunts by Dharam, and also having some great comedic moments (Hema dressed as a Sanyasi, anyone?). The songs were a joy to watch, especially the title song (check out my Song of the Day post about it), "Chupa Chupi Khele Aao", and the Disneyland song. But I digress ... here is Hema in Banjaran-costume, brandishing her trusty knife in "O Raja Babu":



I sense that I am going to have some strong Deol Dhamaka Hangover, so there may be some residual posts that still make it on to the blog. But I cannot thank all the fabulous bloggers who participated in Deol Dhamaka enough! We have over 100 posts on our Deol Dhamaka links list, so I highly recommend you visit and check out some of the writings. There are some excellent write-ups that go well beyond the "OMG he's soooo hot" fare that we thought we'd have. :-)

This has been an exciting project and I am so thrilled with the participation! And stay with us ... there's still one more day in March and who knows what might happen?

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Michael Katsidis vs Robert Guerrero Conference Call

LIGHTWEIGHT contenders Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Michael “The Great” Katsidis took a short break from their training on Tuesday March 22nd, 2011 to discuss via conference call their upcoming 12 round lightweight battle scheduled for April 9th in Las Vegas on the undercard of the Eric Morales-Marcos Maidana HBO "Action Heroes" Pay-Per-View card. The California native Robert Guerrero (28-1-1 18 KOs) is training close to home in Las Vegas and confidently reports that “everything is falling into place” and that he is very excited and ready for the fight against Katsidis which he calls a “fan’s fight.”

The Australian native Michael Katsidis (27-3 22 KOs) is training half way around the world in Thailand, claiming he does so because, “it’s very tough and rugged conditions here with very few luxuries. This is my job, this is my living so it’s as simple as that. I’m not here for a holiday.” Katsidis appeared to brush off questions and concerns raised about a small cut he recently received in training over his right eye. Asked repeatedly about the severity of the cut and how many stitches it took, Katsidis responded glibly, "I didn’t even count” although he did half-jokingly say he would be circling to his left against the southpaw Guerrero come fight night.


Hell and Back

The recent outside of the ring trials and tribulations for both fighters have been well documented. Michael Katsidis recently lost his brother Stathi Katsidis who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last year during the run up to his brother Michael's fight against Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez, with Katsidis dedicating that fight to his late brother. Katsidis was stopped in the 9th round against Marquez in a grueling back and forth fight that many considered to be a fight of the year candidate.  

Robert Guerrero has also faced his own outside the ring adversity recently, standing close by his wife Casey Guerrero as she faced a very difficult fight of her own against cancer. Guerrero reports that his wife is doing very well today cancer-free and that as a couple they have been able to move forward after these challenging times in their lives. Katsidis seemed to sum it up best when he said regarding recent setbacks “I have a belief that if something doesn’t kill you, it makes you more strong.”

The Guerrero family must certainly echo such sentiments as well after what they have been though.

Face to Face
 
Robert Guerrero and Michael Katsidis are very different fighters from very different backgrounds. Both have overcome incredible adversity outside the ring and on April 9th, their worlds apart will finally collide in the ring for all to see as both men come face to face after having been to hell and back. Robert Guerrero was recently honored by the boxing writers of America with a special award for courage shown outside of the ring. Clearly, both men are worthy of such an award; courage being in no small supply for either fighter.

Despite what the sanctioning bodies have to say about this fight and whatever title belts they may or may not end up associating with it, the fight itself looks to be a solid match-up between two Top 10 lightweight contenders willing to risk much against each other in hopes of bigger and better things, the former featherweight and super featherweight titlist Robert Guerrero stating boldly "I want to try to win a world title in every weight class I hit."

Michael Katsidis seemed equally as motivated to make his mark at lightweight, believing this fight to be "for a world title" and adding that, "you want to achieve as much as you can." He also challenged reigning Ring Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez to "piss or get off the pot", referring presumably to the Champion’s uncertain future plans at lightweight and how that uncertainty complicates matters for the rest of the division.
 
Prediction

Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision or by TKO late on cuts.

The feeling here is that Guerrero posses better boxing skills and will put them to good use building up an early lead in this fight. Katsidis will rally in the middle rounds with his aggressive style and make it competitive but a cut (or cuts) in the later rounds will bloody Katsidis and slow him down as Guerrero pulls away to either win on points or win by TKO on cuts.

Kelly, Rocky, Roy & Gamboa!

IN light of all that has happened in and outside of the ring since losing his middleweight title last year, Kelly Pavlik deserves a tremendous amount of credit for simply going the distance against Sergio Martinez in his bloody Championship-losing effort last year. The fact that Pavlik floored Martinez in the 7th round only adds to what an amazing effort he put up despite what he was actually up against. Recent Martinez challengers Paul Williams and Serhiy Dzinziruk failed to go the distance or otherwise be competitive with the new defending Champion Martinez in any way. Both challengers were dominated and dispatched by Martinez with apparent ease. The fact that Pavlik heard the final bell at all against Maravilla seems all that much more impressive now.

By now, we all know how far Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez has ascended in the rankings and in reputation since taking the middlweight title from Pavlik, and conversely we all now know just how far Kelly Pavlik has fallen since losing the title. We have a better understanding of just how impaired as a fighter Pavlik truly was at that time, battling active alcoholism AND Sergio Martinez, essentially at the same time! Amazingly he went the distance like a Champion in both fights. Kelly Pavlik may have ultimately shown more in defeat against Sergio Martinez than he ever did in victory. Kelly deserves a rematch with Maravilla Martinez if he wants one, that's for sure.



Am I suddenly living in a Rocky movie or did Roy Jones Jr just announce he would be fighting a dangerous, naturally larger Russian opponent in, of all places, Russia? Roy is toying with his health now and it's sad to see. Outstanding as an HBO commentator, Jones clearly has nothing left as a fighter and as a fighter he clearly has nothing left to prove, yet he fights on despite evidence he should not. Roy Jones used to refer to his friend, former world champion Gerald McClellan, as a prime example of something he never wanted to become in the sport of boxing, namely an injured, brain damaged ex-Champion.

Gerald McClellan of course was nearly killed in London in his 1995 fight against Nigel Benn, surviving not only a traumatic brain injury as a result of the beating he took from Benn, but also surviving quite possibly the single worst case of officiating ever seen in a professional boxing ring. Alfred Asaro, the referee in that fight should have been charged with a crime; his neglect and his incompetence so profound that McClellan now exists in a state of perpetual blindness, nearly deaf, his brain forever destroyed by what took place in that BRUTAL fight. So today more than 15 years after the lights went out on him, Gerald McClellan lives in a dark and lonely place and for whatever reason, Roy Jones Jr seems hellbent on joining his friend there. This aint' a Rocky movie Roy, brain damage is NOT reversible, please retire!

Speaking of Rocky, it's good to see he's going the distance again this time in Canastota, NY. Famed Actor & Director Sylvester Stallone absolutely deserves his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this summer for his amazing contributions to the sport he so obviously loves. The Rocky movies were a great tribute to boxing and the character of Rocky Balboa epitomized everything we love about the sport. It's interesting that Sly will be going into the Boxing Hall of Fame in the same induction class as Mike Tyson, a fighter whose style and demeanor were foreshadowed on the big screen by Stallone's menacing "Clubber Lang" character from the third Rocky movie, released in 1982, three years before Mike Tyson went pro. Come to think of it, Sly not only foreshadowed the emergence of a Mike Tyson type fighter on film, he also foreshadowed the emergence of Russian dominance in the heavyweight division with Rocky IV which came out in 1985! Yo Drago! Yo Klitschko!

Now that featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa has made short work of challenger Jorge Solis, of course we ALL want Yuriorkis Gamboa vs Juan Manuel Lopez right now for the Undisputed Featherweight Championship. Looks like we'll have to wait though and that actually might be OK as long as the opportunity to make the fight is not lost as sometimes happens in boxing. The promoters and the fighters appear to be doing a good job of building the fight up, increasing fan interest, and otherwise making boxing fans mouth's water! When and if the fight finally happens, it has the potential to be an old school classic unification Superfight, not just another so-called big fight. If promoted and timed properly, a Lopez-Gamboa unification fight could be reminiscent of Leonard-Hearns I in 1981, but for a new generation.