Yamla Pagla Deewana

About the film

Yamla Pagla Deewana (transl. Crazy mad lover; Hindi pronunciation: [jəməlaː pəgəlaː d̪iːʋaːnaː]) is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Samir Karnik, featuring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, and Bobby Deol in the lead roles. The film marks the second pair-up between the Deol family, after Apne (2007). The film's title is inspired by the song "Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana" from the 1975 film, Pratigya also starring Dharmendra. The theatrical trailer of the film was unveiled on 5 November 2010, while the film was released on 14 January 2011, and received a good response upon release. It turned out to be a box office hit. It is the first installment of the Yamla Pagla Deewana film series and the 11th highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2011.

Plot

Paramvir Singh is a non-resident Indian (NRI) living happily with his Canadian wife Mary along with his two kids Karam and Veer and his mother in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Years ago, after the birth of Paramvir's younger brother Gajodhar, Paramvir's father, Dharam Singh, had run away from home and taken Gajodhar with him due to difficulties with the family. Back in present, a Canadian comes to visit Paramvir at his home, where he sees Dharam Singh's photo. The Canadian recognises Dharam as a thief who had robbed him when he went to tour in Banaras. Upon hearing this news, Paramvir's mother sends him to Banaras to find his father and younger brother.

When Paramvir reaches Banaras, he meets a youngster who cons him off all his money. Seeking help, Paramvir lands up at a bar, where he sees both Dharam Singh and his brother Gajodhar Singh, who has now grown up. Paramvir realises Gajodhar is in fact the youngster who had earlier conned him and is disappointed to see both his father and brother are con-men. When Paramvir sees Dharam alone, he confronts him and tells him his identity. However, Dharam refuses to acknowledge him as his son. Soon, Paramvir saves Gajodhar from getting attacked by goons, to which Gajodhar befriends him and accepts him to their team, not knowing that he is his elder brother.

During this time, Gajodhar falls in love with Sahiba, a Punjabi author. Dharam and Paramvir help him woo her, and the two start a relationship. Soon enough, Gajodhar gets attacked by Sahiba's brothers, who took Sahiba back to Punjab. When Dharam sees that Gajodhar is hopeless, he breaks down and asks Paramvir to help and acknowledges that he is his father but he shouldn't tell Gajodhar anything about that, after which Paramvir and Gajodhar go to Punjab to get back his love.

Production

The filming started in February 2010. Director Samir Karnik along with the lead cast of Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol started shooting in Varanasi in April 2010. The shooting was disrupted twice, first in March, due to the hospitalisation of Dharmendra, and then in July, when Sunny Deol faced back problems while filming an action sequence.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 saying "it reminds the audience of the films of yesteryear with the typical masala." Gaurav Malani of the Times of India states, "This one is an entertainer and not without a reason". Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times rated it 2.5/5. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN says "Yamla Pagla Deewana is enjoyable" giving it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Pankaj Sabnani of Glamsham.com gave 3 out of 5 stating "The right dose of action, drama and comedy, combined with a fine story make Yamla Pagla Deewana a paisa vasool entertainer. Go for it!"

Yamla Pagla Deewana opened to a good response in India, raking in ₹ 240 million net over its first weekend and approximately ₹ 350 million net at the end of its first week. The film did particularly well in Punjab, Delhi and UP. It grossed approximately ₹ 8.50 crore in its second weekend taking the total gross to ₹ 430 million in ten days. The film had a 300% increase in collections on Republic Day and grossed ₹ 495.0 million by the end of its second week. In its third week, the film collected ₹ 35.1 million. After seven weeks the film's net collections were ₹ 549.3 million. In overseas markets, the film grossed around US$3,030,000. The total worldwide gross of the film amounted to ₹887.2 million.

Music and soundtrack

The music for the film’s songs was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, Anu Malik, Sandesh Shandilya, Nouman Javaid, RDB and Rahul B. Seth. The lyrics of the songs were penned by Anand Bakshi, Dharmendra, Irshad Kamil, Anu Malik, Rahul B. Seth and RDB. The background score of the movie was done by Sanjoy Chowdhury.

"Tinku Jiya" composed by Anu Malik was a chartbuster in 2011. The title song is the remake of the same song from the film Pratigya which was sung by Mohammed Rafi and incidentally featured Dharmendra.

Sequel

The sequel was announced after the success of the original, and the project began filming in September 2012. The first look of the film was also unveiled after its first schedule was completed also in September 2012. The sequel features the trio of Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol reprising their roles, with debutant Kristina Akheeva and Neha Sharma as female leads. Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 released on 7 June 2013, and received mixed response but was a box office success. The third installment of the series was released on 31 August 2018 reprising the original lead male actors and Kirti Kharbanda as actress. The film generally received negative reviews and was a box office disaster.

Key details