Tere Bin Laden

Tere Bin Laden (TBL) reminded me of Pakistan's win in the 2009 T20 cricket world cup. No, it's not a movie about cricket but it has the same formula for success where Abhishek Sharma is the captain steering the ship with zeal, there is team effort from five to six individual players and then there is a certain Ali Zafar who acts as 'Shahid Afridi' catalyst for the victory.

Out of the 120 minutes I sat in the theater, without exaggeration I had a smile for 70 minutes and I laughed for 40 minutes. Agreed that I am a compulsive laugher, it still was rib-tickling. It's not a senseless Akshay Kumar comedy of errors, mind you. It's an intelligent satire and a different take on the terrorism threat the world is facing. More importantly, it delivers the message of peace more interestingly than the over-doing films like My Name is Khan and New York, both of which I did not enjoy much.

First ten minutes into the film and you know that you are up to. The toilet scene in the beginning and Ali's attempts in the plane to copy CNN accents are funny. As the movie progresses and story unfolds, the joy rides keep getting funnier. At the interval, it looked fantastic but I feared that it might go down in the second half. Fortunately, it did not. The best thing is that it's not dragged unnecessarily and is shorter than your normal Hindi films.

The movie marks the arrival of Ali Zafar, who will probably become the first major successful Pakistani actor in bollywood considering that TBL has already grossed over 10 crores at the Indian box office. His screen presence is phenomenal; his confidence is that of a veteran, his smile is lightening; his comic timing can put some so-called entertainers of bollywood to shame. Not even once he goes overboard and takes the movie on his shoulders throughout. His slightly Punjabi-accented-Urdu at times left a bit to think but that does not bother as it has no significance on the story. It will be interesting to see how he fares in his next movies, which I am sure he will get after this performance. He should. There was only one scene that could come remotely close to being emotional, hence, his serious portrayal could not be judged. Ali, in TBL, is absolutely fantastic. I would not be surprised if he bags a couple of new-comer awards at the end of the year.

Abhishek Sharma is another new star to the list of debutant directors after Nishikan Kamat (Mumbai Meri Jaan), Sriram Raghavan (Johnny Gaddar) and Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday) but he has taken a totally different route as compared to them. His attention to details is amazing. He carries some jokes throughout the movie (The Pappu Umbrella that opens downwards and not upwards) without giving a feeling that it's dragged. His focus on out-of-focus actors on the screen is exemplary. Just like Ali, I am sure we will see a lot more of him in future. Casting Ali for his first film also turned out to be a master stroke. The storytelling is without loopholes.

The other actors contribute with sincerity. Saugandha gets the biggest role of her career thus far as Zoya and does better than what she did in Jaane Tu and Let's Dance. The look-alike of Bin Laden (Pradhuman Sing) is hilarious. His scenes with Saugandha leave you in giggles. His Arabic and Punjabi are funny. Imagine Bin Laden singing with a girl 'HABIBI GEORGE BUSH'. Ali's partner, the cameraman, is as good a comedian as it gets.

Cinematography is nothing to write home about but the art director needs pats on the back for creating Karachi like he did. Olper's buntings on the shops and Dr. ZIauddin Road on the walls was brilliant.

Even when the movie was over, I kept sitting to see the final credits and guess what; it offered more when it unfolded the future of those characters… an all-spiky Bin Laden! The downside of the movie… eh? What downside? TBL was hilarious. I enjoyed every bit of it and would love to watch it again and again.

It was a boring weekend, since I exhausted all options of watching Hollywood movies last week. This was the only option I had. And after struggling with my conscious I convinced myself to go for this movie.

AND IT WAS NOT A WRONG DECISION

This movies is an example of making Bollywood realize how important script is.

A perfectly executed masterpiece. And example that comedy can be without using words. All the characters have done their job. I personally like the Editor of Danka TV.

Very Humorous.

Its good news for all Comedy genre lovers as here comes a fine tuned comic flick with some great performances after a long time. Out of all the genres of film-making I consider Comedy as the toughest one since each individual viewer has his own kind of sense of humor and it's really tough to make everyone laugh at the same time. Any comic attempt can easily go over the top if not equipped with some right, powerful and timely punches. And if you are dealing with a concept based on the identity of the world's most famous personality OSAMA BIN LADEN then the vision of its makers really matter a lot.

Fortunately "TERE BIN LADEN", comes up as a clear winner, offering you a highly enjoyable time in the theater with a fresh and daring subject. As a sigh of relief at last we get a well written comedy to enjoy, where people are not just running after one another or greeting each other with mistaken identities as seen in countless comedies in the last few years. The movie once again proves a strong point of film-making that a pleasing project solely depends upon its writing, script and execution more than its star-cast. The fact was earlier proved decades before by "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" and more recently by "Khosla Ka Ghosla". Now "TERE BIN LADEN" proves it once again, as the common man is appreciating it, even when he is not familiar with any of the faces seen on the screen.

Based on the subject of creating a fake personality of OSAMA and then shooting his forged tapes to earn some quick bucks, the film is immensely likable right from its first sequence of deporting the lead hero by mistake. The other big factor which becomes an instant hit with the viewers is its perfect casting where every characters is able to bring in some more laughter with his own unique lines. For instance, the Channel owner, the helpless editor, the witty cameraman, the makeup girl and the voice over artist, each one of them has a different quality to win over the audience. And on top of all there is Ali Zafar, the hero with his impeccable timing and Pradhuman Singh who is made to pose as the fake OSAMA in a highly hilarious manner.

Beside this, what really works is the mixed language used in the movie with insertions of Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi lines written intelligently. In fact it's the Punjabi abusives used by Pradhuman dressed as OSAMA which makes you laugh aloud and you really want him to keep abusing at regular intervals. Yes, the movie does take some huge liberties while showcasing the retaliation of White House (after watching the forged tapes). But if you are dealing with a theme on OSAMA then America and White house has to be there as a mandatory clause. So, considering it as a hilarious satire on the system, it's a fine funny take on the whole world fighting with the current situation of terror.

A comedy mainly works, when a well crafted script gets an ample support from its performers and they all have a good time working together. Luckily, that is the main USP of "Tere Bin Laden" where everyone gels together perfectly and contributes a lot to the overall experience.

Frankly speaking, performance wise, the movie was a pleasant surprise for me as I knew Ali Zafar, the lead hero of the film, only as a talented singer-composer and Pop Icon of Pakistan. He did a successful pop album for us in India titled "MASTY"and you might remember the hit song from the album called "Sun Ri Sajaniya". But I never knew that Ali had such a hidden acting talent in him. He is surely the find of the season for both India and Pakistan and should soon be getting more deserving offers of acting.

Among the rest of the cast, Pradhuman Singh as OSAMA is too funny playing with his Sikander (the chicken). The film could have fallen flat if he would have faltered in his role of a fake OSAMA. But he is simply superb looking exactly similar to the real one. Piyush Mishra, Sugandha Garg, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Rahul Singh and Chirag Vohra as a collective team are all terrific. Berry John gives another controlled performance of a US representative. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music supports the feel and pace of the movie completely. The music grows on you and as the end credits are rolling you feel like loving it. Cinematography is fine but the dialogues and its one liners are just fantastic.

In all, I could only find one small glitch in this almost perfect movie, related to its main region of operation. The film confusingly keeps shifting between different regions of India and Pakistan. With its major characters and sequences representing the neighboring region it gives you a feeling of a collaboration kind of project which is sadly not mentioned anywhere in the film credits. So the unexplainable regional disparities in backgrounds, getups and physical appearances remain the only hick-up in this immensely likable comedy.

If "Khosla Ka Ghosla" gave us Dibaker Banerjee then "Tere Bin Laden" has given us another ace debutant writer-director Abhishek Sharma. And I am really expecting more worth watching movies coming from him pretty soon. So, stop thinking and just go for it with your entire family at the earliest and have a good time.

("Tere Bin Laden" also finds its place in my "Movie To See Before You Die" list as its an out of the box comedy based on a rare and daring concept never tried before.)

Abhishek Sharma ( don't actually know the guy) has made a fine debut with this adorable flick . Trite and well edited, the movie leaves a good impression throughout. Yes there are a few stale patches in between but that doesn't adversely affect the comic credibility of the movie . The cast does justice to the movie's theme. Ali Zafar may have been the protagonist but it is the guy who plays Laden's look alike who out does almost everyone else. A fine satire , not holding back anything, the movie is the newest member of the Political Satire Flicks.

The movie also scores highly when it comes to editing. The editing team is allergic to superfluous stuff and that is such a relief. No sentimentality's without a reason and no stretch outs.

Definitely a one time watch if not more.

I saw this movie recently on DVD, the reason I did not go to theater was (actually were) new actor, new director, and the plot was also not so much thrilling, as 9/11 and Osama are not in news now.

The main drawback of most Bollywood comedy flicks is, they do not have any plot at all, and most of them have only three things 1.Misunderstanding 2. Marathon of characters 3. Old or double meaning Jokes in place of dialogs

This film was nothing like old crap and to my surprise, I was completely wrong; the cast does justice to the movie's theme especially "Noora chacha" played by Pradhuman Singh and yes "Sikandar"(the chicken) too. Ali jafar with his impeccable timing is well suited in his first appearance in Bollywood. This is perfect platform for him to be launched in such a good movie.

The main USP of "Tere Bin Laden" is a well-crafted script with total fresh idea and of course superb direction. What a debut for Abhishek Sharma. It is a satire on the system; it is a fine funny take on the whole world fighting with the terror. This is the movie you should watch with your friends or family if you want to double your experience of fun.

And the last line: Don't read this, go watch movie and please do not watch it alone.