Remembering the first installment of YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA, I enjoyed watching it to a large extent as the film did have many entertaining moments to offer, especially in its second half. And the purpose of mentioning this 2011 hit here is to admit that at times I am really willing to enjoy such illogical comedies 'leaving the brains behind' as widely quoted in the trade, when it comes to films like YPD. So expecting a crazy funny film from the Deols, I was there sitting in the theater like a child, eager to laugh along the trio with full spirits.
But unfortunately, nothing of that sort happened even after one hour into the film and the Deols failed to give me anything more entertaining than what I had already seen in the promos running on the channels. Actually YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA 2 turns out to be a complete non performer because its fails at various levels rejecting each and every expectation in the mind of a Deol fan. For instance, its quite surprising to see that the very first scene of the film, introduces Sunny Deol in a hugely uninspiring manner without any exciting build up or energy. And then his character is not able to impress or make any kind of solid impact right till the climax, due to an uneven story progression. Besides the writers try to incorporate too many badly conceived plots into the script which don't let any particular one win over the viewer, resulting in a collective fall in the end quite regrettably.
The deliberate reference of SALMAN KHAN and his hits throughout the film indicate the lack of confidence in their content by the makers at regular intervals. The unrequired inclusion of Orangutan (The Ape), without any kind of clear reason or story angle too displays the questionable vision of its director Sangeeth Sivan. But more importantly, the shockingly uninteresting and long sequences in a comedy film, without any witty or funny dialogues really made me doubt on some probable problems during its making, leading to such lifeless project from the Deols beyond imagination. Further it was indeed quite disheartening to see Anupam Kher, the man who was one of the key entertainers in YPD, wasted in such a cruel manner in its part 2, which can even be called as pathetic without any doubt.
In technical terms, if a comedy film keeps moving calmly without any hilarious dialogues coming at short intervals and doesn't have any fast paced sequences focusing on the entertainment factor, then it really cannot be called A Comedy in its real sense. And therefore while watching the film I was constantly thinking about the reason why the Deols approved this kind of project and its script in the first place?
Frankly it was only the love and respect for the Deol family which didn't allow me to take eyes of the screen watching the trio, otherwise the writer & the director had nothing in store for me in their silly and tame execution of a tasteless plot. Dharmender, as usual looks adorable as the con man with a childlike innocence and Bobby gives his best shot as Dharam's associate in some cool dress ups. But it is Sunny all the way, looking strikingly dazzling as the dashing Sikh on the screen fighting the bad men. Sadly he again gets to do the same kinds of scenes with the Sumo wrestlers this time which still fail to entertain the viewers in a prolonged climax.
Neha Sharma & Kristina Akheeva serve as the essential glamour ingredient of the project perfectly but Anu Kapoor and Johny Lever remain wasted. Plus it was really weird to see Mukul Dev in just one short scene in the film, who was again one of the key scene stealers in YPD1. The soundtrack remains another downer in the list with only the title track & "Main Aidaan Hi Nachna" making some kind of ripples due to its indicative lyrics pointing towards the famous dancing abilities of the Deols. But it would have been better if the track was used within the film in a related sequence than being played with the end credits rolling after its all over. Cinematography maintains the grandeur of the project (partially shot abroad) but background score goes over the top with its repeated use of Punjabi beats and loud chorus voices shouting various words.
To end on a decisive note, with a duration of more than 150 minutes its really hard to sit through this so called comedy featuring the lovable Deols. And the blame completely goes to the writer and the director who fail to deliver miserably in this much awaited film of 2013. It was indeed a treat to watch Dharmender, Sunny & Bobby together in a thoughtful venture like APNE and the trio needs to give us better films in the future as per their big reputation within the industry as well as in their energetic fans all over the world. But if you ask me, then with the Punjabi film industry flourishing like never before, its high time the Deols soon come up with a grand Punjabi film made on a good subject (preferably not a comedy) which would be a great news for the trade market within India as well as abroad, for sure.
