A mad film that falls short of being truly madcap.

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Starring: Ali Zafar, Barry John, Piyush Mishra
Directed by Abhishek Sharma
Rating: **

Tere Bin Laden is a unique Bollywood film in that it’s all about Pakistan. The characters, story, setting and lingo (great use of Punjabi spoken across the border) are Pakistani, which lends it a certain amount of novelty and freshness. Moreover, even in terms of the form and tenor, Tere Bin Laden takes off from where Pakistani comic serials, like Bakra Kishton Par, left.

The opening scene sets the tone. Newsman Majeed (Piyush Mishra with his wig flying away in the air, literally) is reporting from Jinnah airport, Karachi, on the first flight coming in to Pakistan from America post 9/11. The acting is deliberately hammy, situations intentionally silly and jokes consciously over-the-top. So Tere Bin Laden has to be seen and judged squarely for what it is: a loud farce that sends up both America and Osama. At the centre of the action, rather commotion, is ambitious TV journo Ali (played by Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar, the only Pakistani presence in the cast, easy on the eye and reminding you of Shahid Kapoor) who wants to make a future for himself in America. But his fate is sealed on board the flight when a casual mention of words like “bomb” and “hijack” finds him deported. All attempts to get a visa are rejected. Then one day, he chances upon an Osama lookalike poultry farmer Noora (standout show from Pradhuman Singh), decides to shoot a fake Osama video with him and hopes to make a quick buck. A lot else happens—American secret agents descend on Karachi, missiles gets fired, a chicken lays down its life.

All the characters are oddball, goofy and caricaturised, be it the Guevara fan, Comrade Qureshi of Radio Azadi, or the US secret agent Tedji (Barry John looking uneasy) out on a hunt for the dreaded man. But the actors come up with patchy, self-conscious acts and performances stop short of being truly zany. Similarly, though the plot seems completely mad on paper, the film is fun only in parts. The first half has stretches of dullness and things energise post-interval. You invariably end up comparing Tere Bin Laden to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, wishing it could have let go and be as sublimely silly and spontaneously balmy as jbdy. A mad film that falls short of being truly madcap.

High Fives

Bollywood