By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Feb 17 (IANS) Samir Karnik’s “Yamla Pagla Deewana” will see Dharmendra and Bobby Deol as a conmen duo. The directors says preparations for the film have brought the father and son closer.

Earlier Bobby used to be intimidated by his father in real life, Karnik said.

“Not so any longer. Thanks to the preparation for my film, both Bobby and Sunny have loosened up with their dad,” Karnik, who will shoot in Varanasi in April, told IANS.

The film also stars Sunny as an upright man married to a Canadian living in Canada. He gets to know after two decades that he has a father and brother in Varanasi. The film is about Sunny’s journey into his past and into a culture that he had left behind.

While Bobby is paired with television actress Kulraj Randhawa, the Canadian leading lady for Sunny is yet to be finalised.

The film went on floors this week.

“We release ‘Yamala Pagla Deewana’ on December 24, Aamir Khan’s slot. This year he won’t have any release in the last week of December. So we’ve decided to release our film in that slot,” said Karnik.

Incidentally Karnik’s lucky mascot, little Dwij Yadav of “Nanhe Jaisalmer” fame, won’t be part of “Yamla Pagla Deewana”.

“Let him grow up off camera now. He’s my insurance for the future, just like Rakesh Roshan has Hrithik,” said the director emotionally.

The film’s title is obviously inspired by the chartbuster song “Main jat yamla pagla deewana” from Dharmendra’s 1975 blockbuster “Pratiggya”.

Karnik, who intends to record a remix version of the Mohammad Rafi hit, has introduced a new composing duo Nouman Javed (from Pakistan) and Rahul Seth.

“I heard Nouman’s music on the Internet and asked him to send me his songs on the MP3 format. Then I took another new composer Rahul Seth to Dubai and we recorded the songs.”

While doing a re-mix of the old hit may be considered a stroke of clever marketing, bringing the father and his two sons together hardly qualifies as a novel strategy.

“I know Dharamji, Sunny and Bobby have been brought together earlier in ‘Apne’. But that was a very emotional drama. ‘Yamala Pagla Deewana’ is an out-and-out comedy,” said Karnik.