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.
Ratings : 4 / 5
(Though for many friends, the movie may not be a pure masterpiece in totality but I would readily like to add "Tere Bin Laden" in my "Movie To See Before You Die" list since its a completely out of the box comedy based on a rare and daring concept which even Hollywood didnt think of adapting in any of their comic projects.)
