Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive

What a movie! I'm glad I first watched it and then saw the ratings here. Awesome acting, script, energy! Loved it.

A sequel to the much-loved Tere Bin Laden, 'Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive' is sadly an Uneven Sequel, that lacks the spirit & the humour of its prequel. Though fun in parts, the film never turns into a hilarious joyride. Sikander Kher, however, delivers one of the best performances of the year so far!

'Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive' Synopsis: A Bollywood director is hired by an American talent agent to make a film on Osama bin Laden. The plan to use an Osama doppelganger in order to prove his death boomerangs when a Taliban arms dealer hijacks their idea to prove he's alive.

'Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive' has a dull start, but things begin to move once Sikandar's character goes through a make-over & how his motives result into some rib-tickling moments with the character of Paddi (played by Pradhuman Singh). Sadly, the pace again drops pre-climax & even the end to this story seems hurried. My only question to the Writers is, why did you keep it down on the humour? Wasn't that the brand here?

The Screenplay has a few punches, but overall, they lack consistency. Abhishek Sharma is not in form this time. After The Shaukeens, this is another missed opportunity from the director. Cinematography is decent. Editing & Art Design are mention-worthy.

Performance-Wise: As mentioned before, its Sikandar all the way. He's simply superb in both the roles he depicts, one as the US Agent & the other as the loud Punjabi Film Producer. Its good to see the actor finally getting a role that exhibits his talent to the hilt. Manish Paul is over-the-top, while Pradhuman Singh is very cute as Paddi. Piyush Mishra is a riot in his part. Sugandha Garg is natural the core. Ali Zafar is effective in a cameo.

On the whole, besides some fine acting, 'Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive' scores lower on laughs.

Definitely a must watch if you love creative comedy. Some of the scenes are just too hilarious. Very good casting as well.

Sequels always run the risk of falling short of expectations. In 2010, Tere Bin Laden emerged as surprise hit with its abundant laughs and particularly smart writing. This time director Abhishek Sharma is hardly able to conjure up an equally enticing story. The chuckles are fewer and the wit from the first part is nowhere to be seen. Franchises are mostly created for moolah and that could be a valid reason for this sequel as well, but with the lack of an effective story to go with it, the results aren't appealing.

The humour is rather low-IQ and most gags are far from enjoyable. The laughs are fewer and restrict themselves primarily to the first half. A certain Olympia-e-dehshat is the only one scene that will have you in splits. There is something funny about a bomb relay race and watching terrorists compete to win a suicide jacket personally autographed by Osama. Their starstruck eyes are bound to tickle your funny bones.

A good part of the first hour features Ali Zafar who is nothing like the clever man you remember from the 2010 original. He plays an arrogant superstar who dances to an odd item number about his six-pack abs. Manish Paul is earnest but the television host inside him outdoes the actor. Sikander Kher in his dual role is seen having a ball of a time, which reflects in his performance. Iman Crosson and Piyush Mishra are absolutely wasted. And, Pradhuman Singh is endearing in his part.

I made the mistake of accidentally watching this movie before its prequel, because the original Tere Bin Laden isn't available on any streaming platform. Without having watched that I thought it's a completely original idea, but later on I figured out it was the continuation of the story.

Normally movie sequels are made to continue on the story that the previous movie left off from. But this one was something completely different. It begins from how the director made the movie and became a sensation overnight (although that didn't happen since that movie was forgotten in less than a month, let's consider it did happen for the story's sake). And now al-Qaeda is looking for the director so that he can bring Osama Bin Laden for a video and make him talk to Obama.

Just like the prequel this movie also does not take itself seriously, although this time it goes a little too far. The CIA is shown to attack terrorists using arcade-styled drone system in which the user has to insert a coin first, the terrorists are shown to have their own version of Olympics, the actors have no sense of their work and the director doesn't even understand that he has been kidnapped. Although the ending was a bit disappointing, it's still better than what most Bollywood movies make.

The only problem with this movie was when it was released. If this movie was released in late 2011 or early 2012, it would have been phenomenal. However, it picks up a dead topic (as dead as Osama Bin Laden) and then drags on with it as though we are still interested in it, which we clearly are not. I think most either there must have been studio meddling which caused this movie to release so late, or the director got the idea too late. Either way it's a big irresponsibility.