Friday, May 19, 2006

New hunk on the block

Bollywood is full of babes. Every Miss India winner these days has a fair shot at making it in tinseltown if she keeps off the potato chips. Nahin to there is enough demand from makers of music videos.

But where are the young hunks? The Khans are all pushing 40. Leave aside Saif Ali Khan and the newly cool Abhishek Bachchan. In the minor league, John Abraham alone holds some swoon value. But as we ask ourselves at JAM, how many times can we publish the fella's poster?

The thing is, there are small fry male stars in Bollywood - Riteish Deshmukh types - but they are not the kind girls would ooh and aah over. The time was just right, for a hot new hunk to be born. And he was.

Drumrolls

Upen Patel

Fireworks.

Yes, a male model who's actually made a smashing debut with 36 China Town. The kind of debut models like Milind Soman or Arjun Rampal must have dreamt of but never managed. John Abraham did make an impact with Jism but Bipasha realy stole the show in that one.

In 36 China Town, Upen looks awesome, fits the role to a T and carries it off with flair. Believe me, playing a Casanova with lines like "Is your father a terrorist? Because you are a bomb" is not easy!

The surprising bit is that the guy is very relaxed and natural, unlike most models in their debut films. I still remember Aishwarya Rai in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya - her expressions would have put the finest Burmese teakwood a complex...

Now Upen has been smart enough to dub his voice . That's where once upon a hunk Deepak Malhotra tripped badly. Poor man, when he opened his mouth and squeaked "Pallo" in Yash Chopra's Lamhe, the man's life was ruined forever. For Godssake, he even changed his name!

An interesting sidelight is that Dr Neeraj Dubey, a pathologist, has been plagued by fans of Upen ever since the film's release. That's because the duh filmmakers gave Upen aka Rocky the number 9820420420 in the film. The number actually exists - it belongs to Dr Dubey.

"If I don’t switch off my phone, I get at least a 1,000 calls every day, till 4 am.... While the guys ask for tips on physique, the girls beg for a date. I’m sick and tired of having to explain the situation to every caller. I’m also bombarded by lovey-dovey messages from women."

There are apparently girls who would like to go for 'long drives' as well ...

Since Da Vinci Code has not released and there's hardly anything else worth watching in the theatres I suggest you see 36, China Town. It's not as bad as many of the critics have made it out to be.

Sure, it has little merit as a suspense thriller but it's fun nevertheless. I give it 2.5 stars (half extra only for Upen :)

You can read my review of the film here.

pic 1: credits - Midday
pic 2: credits - Telegraph

15 comments:

  1. Ya sure. He rates 10/10 on the yuck factor. Ewwwwwwww...

    This guy has boobs that would give a lot of female models a run for their money!

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  2. You got the name wrong..Satish Kaushik.
    And music was not good at all, for me.

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  3. Upen patel.. one more in the never ending list of gud looking models, but with acting skills comparable to wood found in the dense forests of Amazon...

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  4. yum...thanks for the pix!

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  5. Gross! How could you ever do something like this? I recommend one of those pujas for you, to cleanse your website of the sacrilegious rubbish of Upen Patel.
    I couldn't watch the movie 36 China Town beyond the first half hour, because they kept trying to pass off Shahid Kapur as an actor, something intolerable to my delicate senses. Also, I'm going to hope you were just being satirical about this entire movie review, for Upen Patel disgusts most teenagers, female or male.

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  6. Upen Patel making an impact - agreed !!
    But the last thing I could expect of you was recommending 36, CT. No offence intended, but this movie sucks big time yaar. Everybody sucks! Shahid Kapoor is perfect only for music videos, somebody tell him this. And Kareena - she irks me !! And what's with the expressions of Akshay Khanna ?? Lame wanna-be-shahrukh kinda ones ?? Also if anyone saw his song video with Mallika & Ayesha Takia, from Shaadi se Pehle, remember his lame expressions when he sings ??

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  7. Upen?? c'mon, dunno wat to say.....

    Btw, something similar here..http://badmantalking.blogspot.com/2005/02/where-is-new-crop.html

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  8. Anonymous11:43 PM

    Hey.. I think its a rather extravagant statement to call 36 CT as a SMASH DEBUT.... cmon.. It was at best an average debut and at worse eminently forgettable. In my 26 years of movie watching there are only TWO stars that I have seen getting applause from all sections of the theatre, in their debut movie, and they are SRK and Hrithik Roshan. I have nothing against Upen... but I guess comparing him to SRK and all is almost as ridiculous as comparing Suresh Raina to Sachin after his debut knock against England.
    :)

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  9. awww.,...how could you forget Dino Morea...he's quite the hunk and has a pleasant personality...imo...ranks waaay above upen with the reel life nasal voice.

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  10. Rashmi....i really feel u r being an old women infatuated with a young useless hunk. Films need to be a mirror of common man out there... and this guy can never do those roles.

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  11. He looks good in some pics and videos..

    The second photo you have posted.. eewww. Pink tight pants.. Yuck.

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  13. Dear Rashmi....I genuinely feel that you are intelligent, mature and old enough to get impressed by the acting skills of 'movie-workers' rather than their steroid-inspired boobs and biceps. Trust me, you can do that. Some people go to theatre to watch the art called acting and the a good story rather than 'ooh and aah' over the so-called good looking mutton-shops. Take care of their taste. They would love you more.

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  14. well upen was good but still he is far 2 go. he did act much in movie and it reminds me of arjun debut "pyar ishq mohobbat" where he actually looked doing modelling in movie

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