Yamaleela 2 Movie Review

Story : Krish, a medical professional, goes to Manasarovar lake to retrieve Sanjeevani, a herb which has the potential to cure cancer. At the same location, Chitragupta, a trusted aide of Yama, meets Krish and gives him an important book; however, Krish steals the book and goes back to Hyderabad. The rest of the story is about the reason behind Krish’s trip to Himalayas and whether Yama and Chitragupta can retrieve their book or not.

Movie Review : SV Krishna Reddy’s latest film, Yamaleela 2 follows the same template set by its predecessor, Yamaleela, which released two decades ago - there’s a hero who is desperate to defy death to save someone close to him; Yama, the God of death, and his trusted aide, Chitragupta looking for an important book and the hilarity that ensues when Yama and Chitragupta try to mingle with commoners on Earth. Yet, the film is nowhere close to the original version either in terms of its content or its humour.

The film follows the life of a medical professional, Krish (KV Satish), who is desperate to find cure for leukemia to save his niece. He’s in love with his colleague Anandi (Diah Nicolas), who helps him in his endeavour. Soon, Krish heads to Manasarovar lake in the Himalayas, where he wants to retrieve Sanjeevani, a herb which has the potential to cure leukemia. Along with the herb, he also brings along an important book, which originally belongs to Yama, the God of death. The rest of the story is about Yama and Chitragupta’s endeavours to take back their book from Krish, as he struggles to stay alive to fulfill his goal of saving his niece, before he runs out of time.

The film is as much about Krish as it is about Yama and Chitragupta, but there’s hardly anything in the film which would make us want to empathise with these characters. Mohan Babu is majestic as Yama Dharma Raja and his dialogue delivery is impeccable; however, Brahmanandam restrains himself from going all out with the gags. On the other hand, newcomer Krish looks too static for most part of the film. Diah Nicolas has little to offer in the film and other supporting actors, Ashish Vidyarthi and Sayaji Shinde are restricted to poorly written characters.

Leaving aside comparisons with the original version, Yamaleela 2 lacks energy and some of the scenes are so outdated that you begin to wonder if the film itself is stuck in a time warp just like its characters. It’s amazing that ideas like Yama getting excited about ice-creams and damsels, Chitragupta hinting policemen that he’s from a different world have been recycled once again. It’s all meant to be an ode to the original version, but beyond all this, all we get is a film which just doesn’t work no matter how high the stakes are raised.