Bollywood Review: Salman Khan the absent hero of ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’

When the Deols first came out with family drama 'Apne' (2007) the film was a dud. With comic caper ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana' (2011) they tasted success and came up with the sequel ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’(2013).

Unlike other Bollywood sequels ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’ retains the con factor and looks like Dharam Singh (Dharmendra) and Gajodhar (Bobby Deol) still haven’t given up on their conning ways.

Dharam's elder son Palwinder Singh (Sunny Deol) is once again the loyal of the lot.

Well, that's where all the similarities end.

YPD2 moves from Banaras to London where the habitual con men Dharam (plays a saint this time) and Gajodhar target Sir Yograj (Annu Kapoor) who is bankrupt but conmen have no clue about it.

Conman Dharam takes his disciple for a ride as he wants Gajodhar to marry  Yograj's daughter Suman (Neha Sharma).

Palwinder is a debt collector from the bank who takes up the job of a manager at Yograj’s club to find out why he hasn’t paid back his loan to the bank. This is where he falls in love with Yograj’s other daughter Reet (Kristina Akheeva).

The two girls are a treat to the eyes where Suman is simple, suave and Reet is the beauty with brains.

The three Deols plunge into a crazy, action packed, impish, over the top sequence of events.

But it seems the super Deol trio still needed the blockbuster Salman 'Dabangg' Khan to make it work for them.

Suman and Gajodhar are huge Salman Khan fans and have a feud over who is the bigger admirer. Their banter comes across like a promotion of all Salman Khan movies.

Of their family and friends, it’s veterans Annu Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Johnny Lever and Sucheta Khanna who are delightful.

The new addition in the sequel is the Orangutan. The Orang adds a tiny bit humor and turns out to be the real hero for at least half of the movie.

Music by newbies Sharib-Toshi is vibrant and energetic. Aida Hi Nachna already a rage makes you want to break out into a jig but is seen at the fag end of the movie.

If ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ was a fun ride then sitting through the 154 min sequel ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’ was a task that one had to carry with a heavy heart.

This Sangeeth Sivan directorial is anything but funny combining too many stories with several unnecessary characters and dialogues which had a deja vu from other popular Bollywood movies and most of them being Salman Khan’s dialogues.

The forced humor at times hurts the social-intellectual understanding of the audience in the theatre.

Although the stars have tried putting in a bit with their acting skills each one them could do way better than what seemed like amateur performances.

However, if you are willing to spend the precious 154 mins of your life for the legendry Dharmandra you won't be disappointed. Dharamji is still the talent, energy and good looks which even now can give any hero a run for their money.

The original action hero of Bollywood, Sunny Deol lives up to his reputation and with time Sunny is mastering his comic timing.

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