Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2

Dharmendra and sons Sunny and Bobby get together on screen once more in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, the sequel to the 2011 laugh riot. t2 caught up with director Sangeeth Sivan on the world of YPD 2 and the Deol experience.

Everyone’s been loving that bit in the Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 promo where Sunny Deol shouts and people go flying!

(Laughs) When you make a film, you always want to go a level up from what has been shown so far. In our films, till now, we have been shown people flying in the air after getting punched. Now you will see them flying just powered by Sunny’s decibel levels! But honestly, doing something like this is not easy because you have to work hard to make it look convincing. The whole trick is to make it interesting and make people wonder ‘How did they do that?’ I know critics will slam me for a lot of things in the film, but I am making the film for an audience that loves such entertainers. If the critics have a problem, they can stay away.

You didn’t direct the first film. Did that make things tough while making the sequel?

Not really. I had said ‘no’ to two of my own sequels — Apna Sapna Money Money..? and Kyaa Kool Hai Hum. That’s because I really didn’t know what more I could do to take the franchise forward. When Sunny told me to do Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, the pressure on me was tremendous, but I wanted to take it up because I had to prove a point to those whose sequels I had declined. For me, the golden rule while making a sequel is that part two should always have something more to offer than the first film. In this case, I felt that the YPD franchise could be taken forward in a far more interesting way than part one.

Every franchise needs a new audience for it to grow. In this film, I have packed in a lot of stuff, especially a lot of masala moments for kids. It’s got a little bit for everyone… kids, family… for Sunny fans, we have a lot of action. Dharamji has done fabulous work.

So what did you think of Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum that released last year?

No amount of money offered would have made me want to be a part of the film that eventually got made! But I don’t grudge the fact that the sequel has been made because Ekta (Kapoor) as the producer wanted a sequel. But if I had made the sequel, I would have done it differently.

How was it directing the three Deols in YPD 2?

I have worked with Sunny before in Zor (co-starring Sushmita Sen), which was my first Hindi film. I had done a film called Ek with Bobby. So, I knew the two of them pretty well. Dharamji I came to know only on the sets of this film… he would speak to me in Punjabi and I would answer in Malayalam! (Laughs) He’s a wonderful person with so much passion for his craft. His life is one big story that could be a film in itself. He’s like a father figure. All three of them are very shy people, but once the camera came on they got into their characters like magic.

The Deols are known to throw tantrums on set…

I had figured out how to handle them (smiles). With Dharamji, I would give him his lines and then allow him to do it the way he wanted to. If I didn’t allow that freedom of improvisation, I would have lost out on that moment of magic that only he could bring in. But I would also design my shots such that while editing, whatever I didn’t like, I could just snip it off (laughs)! I would make him happy on set and later do whatever I wanted. Sometimes, in Hindi films, directing is also another name for man management.

Why will you watch Yamla Pagla Deewana 2? Tell t2@abp.in