Yamla Pagla Deewana 2

The sequel misses the Punjabi humour of the original film

The first edition wasn’t a great movie, but it was fun. It revolved around the two essential Punjabs—in India and in ‘Kaneda’. Cross-cultural interactions between diaspora Punjabis and the local ones made up much of the humour. It was about a Sardar called Paramveer Dhillon (Sunny Deol) from Vancouver, married to a Canadian, turning up in Punjab to help his dad (Dharmendra) and brother get out of a horrific mess. The pickle is compounded, of course, by many Patiala pegs and attractive Sardarnis.

Mysteriously, in YPD2, Paramveer is now a bachelor, having apparently got rid of his firang wife and his two little Canadian sons in patkas. He is now ready to woo again and is bowled over by Reet (Kristina Akheeva). This time round, the film is set in England, where Paramveer’s conman father and his two-timing brother have arrived to loot Sir Yograj Khanna (Annu Kapoor) of a lot more than his knighthood. But in this sequel, with the humour of the NRI and rustic Punjabi interactions missing, the movie is little more than a string of PJs.

Only one narrative stands out. This is when Gajodhar Singh (Bobby Deol) unscrupulously pursues his older brother’s girl, Reet. She is an art curator and Gajodhar tries to impress her with his erudition. He ends up mixing up Zakir Hussain with MF Husain and Leonardo DiCaprio with Leonardo Da Vinci. Reet then ribs him about his art history ‘knowledge’, but that doesn’t stop him from wearing a Salvador Dali moustache and passing off a painting by an orangutan called Einstein as his own. When British art critics rave about the work, in gobbledygook, it is quite funny.

But all said and done, YPD2 is a most disappointing follow-up. How could the sequel’s writers have such short memories and completely forget the USP of the original comedy?

DharmendraPunjabi humoursequel