Yamla Pagla Deewana Movie Review: Yamla Pagla Deewana: Triple Deol Delight!

Hindi cinema seems to be yearning for those days of 'masala' films made by the likes of the late Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra and their tribe. What else would account for the stupendous success of 'Dabangg' last year? So 'masala' is back in fashion. Samir Karnik's 'Yamla Pagla Deewana' made with the Deols too seems to be inspired by that genre. The film which stars father Dharmendra and his two sons Sunny and Bobby, does not claim to be original at all and is filled with all the so called familiar clich?s. It makes its way into one's heart primarily because of the presence of the three Deols together and their existing chemistry on screen. Also, the predominantly light hearted tone of the movie is what sways one's heart. 'Yamla Pagla Deewana' is not a great movie, but it is pretty entertaining and a lot of fun.

The film's story revolves around a father and son duo of conmen, Dharam Singh (Dharmendra) and Gajodhar Singh (Bobby), who pass their time in Benares, drinking and conning unsuspecting souls. Their idyllic life is interrupted by the arrival of NRI Paramveer Singh Dhillon (Sunny Deol), who claims to be Dharam's eldest son, separated in childhood, who now wants to take them back to Canada with him. Dharam and Gajodhar are more than happy to accept him and make full use of his brawny presence in their con games. But in the meantime, matters get a little serious when Gajodhar falls in love with Sahiba (Kulraj Randhawa). But Sahiba's brother (Anupam Kher) arrives and forcibly takes her back to Punjab. However, Paramveer hatches a plan which takes the father son trio from Benares to Punjab to win Sahiba back.

The film has been written by Jasvinder Singh Bath and the film's humour is of the very boisterous kind. Most of it originates from Dharam and Gajodhar. But leaving the humour aside, if one talks of the screenplay, then one finds that the first half is a little too clumsy and if handled well, had a lot more potential. The film picks up pace and interest in the second half as the trio land in Punjab, and encounter Sahiba's assortment of brothers led by Anupam Kher, and of course, the entry of the villain in the piece, played by none other than Puneet Issar, popular villain of the eighties.

Director Karnik's venture is marred by a lot of clumsiness in the first half. One feels that too much space is devoted to the Bobby Kulraj romance. But the movie is redeemd by a much more skillfully written and directed second half. The film's music is really nothing much to write home about, however, the highlight is definitely the remix of the famous Dharmendra number after which the film is named, 'main hoon jat yamla, pagla, deewana', and the 'tinku jiya' track. The film's cinematography by Kabir Lal is quite good, and the action sequences, especially those involving Sunny are quite captivating, thanks to Analarasu.

The real coup is of course having the three Deols together on screen and they manage to create enough stupid and goofy moments on screen which more often than not, hit the bull's eye. But there are no real surprises here as Sunny revisits his screen persona of a gentle giant waiting to explode, and Bobby continues to play the young prankster. The showstealer is, of course, none other than Dharmendra, who still manages to captivate and charm audiences with his superb comic timing. Anupam Kher as the bride's brother is a riot to watch. Johnny Lever pulls off the laughs even with his brief appearance. Of the female actors, Nafisa Ali is all grace in her brief role, while Kulraj Randhawa is decent. Emma Brown Barret is quite good as Sunny's Canadian wife.

'Yamla Pagla Deewana' needs to be seen for its peculiar brand of Punjabi humour, Deol style. Dharmendra proves that old is truly gold. The film is pure entertainment.