Tere Bin Laden

Director: Abhishek Sharma
Writers: Abhishek Sharma, Neha Sharma
Stars: Manish Paul, Pradhuman Singh, Sikander Kher
Strength: Acting
Weakness: Lacks humor
Runtime: 104 minutes
Rating:  2/5

PLOT: A Bollywood director is hired by an American talent agent to make a film on Osama bin Laden. The plan to use an
Osama look-alike in order to prove his death boomerangs when a Taliban arms dealer hijacks their idea to prove he's alive.

REVIEW: Abhishek Sharma's political satire Tere Bin Laden was released in 2010, a year before bin Laden was killed by American troops in Pakistan. The reason for return to the characters from that sleeper hit is described through a complex meta plot. We meet Sharma (Manish Paul), playing the director, and follow his efforts to get a sequel green lit by the original film's producers (the sisters Aarti and Pooja Shetty as themselves). Sharma gets to work with the Osama doppelganger, Paddi Singh (Pradhuman Singh), but the follow-up is blown to bits by news that bin Laden has died. CIA operative David (Sikander Kher) wants to shoot a fake video showing bin Laden's death with Paddi so that Obama (Iman Crosson) can provide evidence that the encounter did indeed take place, while a terrorist leader Khalili (Piyush Mishra) and his cronies want to show that the Osama bin Laden is indeed alive. It's all too complicated and unnatural to make sense, and it would not have counted if the humour was up to the cut and the political satire more refined than in a college play.

Reviewed by Minam Haque