When it comes to vanity projects in Hindi films it's not just the success ratio that's bad but more often than not the films just don't make any sense. The idea of three Deol men in a film is the ideal platform to go berserk in self-indulgence but Yamla Pagla Deewana thankfully doesn't really go overboard.
Yamla Pagla Deewana Plot
Paramveer Singh Dhillon (Sunny Deol) has been looking for his estranged father and younger brother for years now. Tired of her husband's nefarious activities Paramveer's mother (Nafisa Ali) had shifted to Canada but the husband runs off with the younger son. Happily married with two kids Paramveer's prayers are answered when a guest tells him that his father is alive and is still conning people. Paramveer lands up in Benaras but his father Dharam Singh (Dharmendra) refuses to recognize him. In order to win over his father Paramveer joins Dharam and his son Gajodhar (Bobby Deol) in conning people. While Gajodhar thinks that they are conning the gentle giant of a sardar into helping them by pretending to be his family, he has no clue about the truth. Gajodhar falls in love with Saheba (Kulraj Randhawa), a photographer working on a coffee table book on Benaras, but her strict brothers whisk her away. While Dharam Singh tells his son to forget Saheba, Paramveer comes with a plan to make the lovers meet. Posing as NRIs the two land up in Patiala to con Saheba's brother Joginder Brar (Anupam Kher) into marrying her to Gajodhar who's posing as Karamveer Singh Dhillon. Things get complicated when Brar decides to get Paramveer married to Shaeba instead of Gajodhar. One by one everyone from Dharam Singh to Paramveer's Canadian wife Mary land up at the Brar residence and after much hullabaloo everything ends well.
For what it's worth Yamla Pagla Deewana doesn't look like something that was thought of just to feature the three Deols. It's not as good as it had the potential to be but definitely has more than its moments. Set in Benaras the first half of the film is a little too long and doesn't really offer anything substantial to the screenplay. With two item songs that try to be the Deol version of Bachchan family anthem Kajrare and a handful of decent scenes the first half is a big let down and almost kills the film. Once the film shifts to Punjab everything changes and thank god for that!
The irreverent humor that fills the second half is what makes Yamla Pagla Deewana worth its while. Besides a hassled Paramveer who dreams of his wife bashing him, an out of breadth Gajodhar who just can't seem to run away with his lady love there is the 'Caneda' obsessed Poli (Sucheta Khanna, excellent), Saheba's cousin and the high as a kite Billa (Mukul Dev, surprise, surprise!) who add to the fun. Highly nonsensical and extremely self deprecating, the second half of Yamla Pagla Deewana has some very funny moments and there is one scene of Sunny Deol towards the end that will simply make your day.
Final Words about Yamla Pagla Deewana
Don't go looking for anything new in Yamla, Pagla, Deewana for there isn't anything new anyway. The set up for the second half isn't as exciting as one expected and even the pay off isn't as fabulous as it could have been but somehow the jokes work and you don't mind the way the film turned out. It's the sheer Deol goodwill that will work more than anything else for this film but having said that Jasvinder Bath's writing is humorous for sure, at least in parts. Surprisingly it's Sunny Deol who steals most of the show and while Dharmendra still packs a punch and can make you laugh, the one where he makes his entry as father of the NRI boys will crack you up; Bobby Deol just can't match up. Not that he minds for he seems to be enjoying the ride and there is a lot of bonhomie but then what else were we expecting in a 'family' drama!
Yamla Pagla Deewana Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kulraj Randhawa, Nafisa Ali, Mukul Dev, Anupam Kher and Sucheta Khanna
Yamla Pagla Deewana Written by: Jasvinder Bath
Yamla Pagla Deewana Directed by: Samir Karnik
Yamla Pagla Deewana RATING: 2.5 / 5
No comments:
Post a Comment