The film opened to negative reviews from critics. Prasanth Reddy from
Desimartini said that "Ya Yaa is an average movie, with a story that lacks direction and performances that failed to deliver".
Rediff.com gave the film a 2/5 stating "
Ya Yaa is an average movie, with a story that lacks direction and performances that failed to deliver". Behindwoods wrote: "The audiences watch Shiva's films purely for the comedy and this film could have done without the few scenes of gory violence, especially since it features Santhanam too, but instead it stretches itself into death and mourning segments that hamper the proceedings".
Baradwaj Rangan of
The Hindu wrote "The trouble with Ya Yaa is that it isn’t even much of a comedy — its rhythms are those of drama...if gags are all you’re after, why not go all-out absurd like The Naked Gun movies?" ==References==