Someone compared it to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, on Twitter, while OPEN magazine called it a ‘stupid comedy’ and gave it a severe drubbing. Those extreme reactions literally forced me to opt for ‘Tere Bin Laden’ over the much more pressing Udaan and Inception, both of which I’ll watch…eventually…some day!
I liked Tere Bin Laden. It has a small-film feel to it, much like JBDY and doesn’t take even one scene seriously. There are few laugh-out-aloud scenes and most of them involve brilliant use of Punjabi. The language used all through the film is a bit coarse and hostel-chatter variety, but that is precisely what works in its favor!
The plot is outrageous and is genuinely funny. The fact is that the main plot point is a one-trick pony, but director Abhishek Sharma ensures that his debut is short and crisp, and does not annoy viewers with long-drawn scenes when there is no opportunity for one.
If the film’s madcap comedy works it is because it looks earnest. Ali Zafar and Nikhil Ratnaparkhi (Gul) really look the part of desperate TV reporters and the fun ride starts right away with the ‘top angle’ coverage…and leads to a even more funny scene involving cocks (the bird variety!).
The other characters really add to the fun quotient – Piyush Mishra, for instance. The guy who plays Noor/Bin Laden is the funniest of all…with his Punjabi and antics centered solely around his roosters, Pradhuman Singh is super!
The really good part of the film is that it pulls everybody’s legs in equal measure with no respite – India (to some extent), Pakistan (to a massive extent) and US (enough to get Pakistan bombed for defamation) – the satire is topical, timely and works really, really well.
I’d not compare this with the legendary JBDY, but this is one of those films where you decide to laugh along the minute it starts and the film makers do not let you down, thankfully.
