तेरे बिन लादेन

After "LAGAAN" and "3 IDIOTS", this is only 3rd Indian movie I rated as 10/10, and the rest of review explains why I rated it so..

While India always has had wonderful actors like Amitabh , Naseer-ud-Din Shah and Aamir Khan, most of such talent is wasted because many Indian movies copy a lot, if you are a well-informed movie geek, you can identify a sequence copied from a classic Hollywood flick or some Giallo, as such movies make lots of gross in India but abroad they lose their charm as we know from ratings that biggest box office hits in Bollywood hardly pass 7 in IMDb ratings..

But here and there the biggest film industry in terms of movies made produces absolute genius like the movies I mentioned, there are many more..TERE BIN LADEN is a no-brainer comedy with hilarious moments and equally compelling script and direction, and a totally original effort.

The story starts with a Pakistani Journalist Ali (played by Pakistani pop-star Ali Zafar) who wants to go to USA and till the credits open, we know that his VISA has been rejected for 7 years (told in a funny way at how he tries to fool the immigration department), Ali works in a small news channel reporting small league press conferences and even cock- operas, he has a friend camera-man GUL (Nikhil RatnaParkhi) and a mean boss Majeed (Piyush Mishra), Ali gets an idea after watching a cock owner NOORA (Pradhuman Singh) and noticing his resemblance with BIN LADEN.He hires a Hair-Stylist ZOYA(Sughanda Garg) and Voice imitator, communist RJ QURESHI (Rahul Singh) , together they make a tape of Bin Laden and sell it to news, the rest movie tells the after effects of this and I won't spoil it , you have to enjoy it.The movie has a small message and asks a question about America's decisions, but it is lightly told so it doesn't effect the momentum of the movie.

As for the performances, ALI ZAFAR was lucky to be cast in this, Pakistani Actors have never been lucky in Bollywood and he got such an original movie to launch his career, but its not to take anything off him, his performance is good, in some scenes he is hilarious while at others , he is just OK , but considering he is originally a singer, he didn't do bad. The pick of the cast and the person who makes this movie is PRADHUMAN SINGH whose USAMA lookalike character is heart and soul of the movie, he is funny, natural and carries the movie to whole new level in all the scenes he is featured, one of best debut performances. I would also like to mention Rahul Singh who plays Communist RJ Qureshi, he was also really funny and his physical gestures were really comic, the rest of cast, be it Ali's friends or police and FBI , are all on par.

Now to the technical stuff, if this movie was 20 minutes longer, it would have been a plain turkey, but the 95 minute running time (about 5 minutes for credits) really keep your interest throughout without senseless sub-plots and gimmicks, the character of Ali is well developed and his love for America is into you in 10 minutes of the movie, the rest of cast are there to carry the plot, Abhishek Sharma who wrote the script and directed doesn't tell you unneeded stuff which slows down many Bollywood movies, like there is no extra prologue of NOORA and other characters, no annoying parents of Ali, all the characters and progression of movies is on the plot and the jokes are around the plot, which makes this movie great, such a good script needed excellent direction and here too Abhishek scores, with a low budget, he carries off the movie beautifully with short flashbacks and well-executed scenes, the Osama video is hilarious yet looks so original, I would love to see him doing bigger projects in future.

For some Bollywood audiences , this might not be the dish but international audiences have liked the movie a lot and it is a big hit now, in India too it has grossed 120 million Rs. , I hope this movie doesn't get effected by net piracy and DVD's are genuinely sold, as the team of this movie deserves at least this for making such a laugh Galla, its 90 minutes worth of laughs and fun. Definitely recommended.

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.

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.)

Just Watched the movie Today, the Concept was Brilliant and the Laden fake worked just fantastic. And his Sikander was astonishing. Yup, the movie will be a bit disappointment for the American in some scenes but tolerable, overall this is not a laughter riot but a laughter ride, A light Movie to go for, Talking About the performance, the poor Laden Fake was fantastic and done his part of Job, and he was the most memorized character of the movie when you finished watching it, Ali Zafar was good for first Timer, but the Show Stealer was Pradhuman Singh, The Laden Fake,

Final Verdict : If you have the Time, Go for it.

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.