Director: Samir Karnik
Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kulraj Randhawa, Mukul Dev and Anupam Kher
Yamla Pagla Deewana starts with a montage and a hilarious narrative on the ‘bhichda hua family’ phenomenon of 70s’ Bollywood and the sepia-toned scenes from the blockbusters or yesteryears make way to a modern day family where Paramveer Singh (Sunny Deol) lands in Benaras from Canada in search for his long lost father, Dharam Singh (Dharmendra) and his brother Gajodhar Singh (Bobby Deol); and the first person he meets on the busy streets of the holy town is of course the kid brother! It turns out that the father-son duo has quite a reputation as petty thugs. Nonetheless the big brother promises their mother (Nafisa Ali) that he will unite the family. But, before that he must ensure his brother’s love story a happy ending by tackling the girl's (Kulraj Randhawa) tough brothers (Anupam Kher, Mukul Dev and the rest).
After the melodrama that was Apne, it is refreshing to see the Deol are sharing screen space in a comedy film and make the most out of it. It can be regarded as a tribute to the Deols as well. If the black and white photographs of the stunning Dharmendra of 60s makes your heart skip a beat, the songs of Barsaat and Kareeb playing in the background during the climax reminds one of the curly-haired, cute Bobby Deol in his initial days, and Sunny dancing with a tube-well on his shoulder makes you remember the famous scene from Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The scene where Bobby re-enacts the famous ‘suicide scene’ from Sholay and is quickly silenced by a straight-faced Sunny who snaps: Woh din gaye jab larkiya ise maan jaati thhi, takes you off guard and then makes you burst into laughter.
All the Deols compliment each other with their comic timing and Anupam Kher is as brilliant as Anupam Kher but it is Mukul Dev who is the surprise package in the movie. His acting looks effortless- this kid has surely come a long way since his Ekse Badkar Ek days! Kulraj (Kareena Kareena) Randhawa has little to do than look pretty- most of the first half she sashays through crowded the streets of Benaras in hotpants (which reminds you of Sonali Bendre’s Nirma act) and post interval she enacts a bit of Kajol of DDLJ, a bit of Kareena of Jab We Met and a bit of what not- but all through she looks pretty indeed!
What begins as a spoof on the masala films of the 70s, turns into a modern version of the classic love story of Mirza-Sahibaan, but YPD is certainly not a Kameenay or Dev.D. The movie is an out-and-out masala movie, replete with unbridled goofiness, Punjabi stereotypes, one-liner PJs, raunchy item numbers and unpretentiously over-the-top fight sequences. The cinematography is good, the songs apart from one are atrocious, a better script and a better direction might have made a far better movie out of YPD but on the whole it is a movie for the aam-junta and a must-watch if you want a hearty laugh sans any brainwork or if you are a Deols fan or if you are a Rajinikanth fan-lookout for the scenes where Sunny holds up whole balcony with his one hand, or where he fights 50/60 people alone with his hands stuck in his pocket, or where he shouts and breaks all the window panes-what Rajini can…Sunny can too!
