Hear
this.
A
small-time
Pakistani
reporter
dreams
of
a
bite
from
Big
Apple.
So
what
does
he
do?
He
sends
George
Bush
a
tape
with
an
Osama
look-alike
threatening
mayhem
in
the
US.
Tere
Bin
Laden
is
one
of
those
whacked-out
satires
that
sound
far
funnier
in
theory
than
it
finally
is
on
screen.
For
no
fault
of
the
lead
actor,
one
might
add.
Ali
Zafar's
comic
timing
could
put
some
of
our
desi
Khans
to
shame.
Ali
is
a
young
actor
with
considerable
screen
presence.
What's
more
he
seems
to
secrete
a
sharp
sense
of
enjoyment
when
confronted
by
the
outrageous
which
he
projects
outwards
with
a
missile-like
aim
that
sometimes
misses
its
target.
This
is
high-wit
low-budget
comedy,
and
it
shows.
The
gags
and
one-liners
involving
the
preparation
to
put
the
fake
Osama
in
the
line
of
fire
are
pungent
parody
in
principle.
But
the
films
meagre
budget
muffles
the
mirth.
Finally
it's
all
about
placing
cameras
in
front
of
world
maps
rather
than
going
out
there
to
capture
those
parts
of
the
world
that
the
satire
takes
into
its
tongue-in-cheek
sweep.
There
are
some
stinging
swipes
taken
at
the
Americanization
of
the
Asian
dream,
and
the
craze
for
young
urbanites
in
this
part
of
the
world
to
make
good
their
escape
at
any
cost.
Debutant
director
Abhishek
Sharma
never
loses
hold
of
the
satirical
mould.
The
sense
of
fun
is
uppermost
in
the
script,
though
quite
frequently
the
humour
gets
derailed
by
studio-induced
props
worthy
more
of
a
television
sitcom
on
burger-mania
rather
than
a
film
whose
satirical
take
on
terrorism
touches
the
nerve-centres
of
our
very
existence.
That
Sharma
is
actually
able
to
pull
off
a
parody
that
combines
poultry
jokes
with
globally-significant
comments,
is
no
small
achievement.
Luckily
the
humour
eschews
vulgarity
except
for
one
inter-lewd
where
a
man
in
a
burqa
tells
another
guy,
"I
may
be
in
a
Burqa
but
otherwise
I
have
the
same
things
that
you
do."
Ahem
ahem.
Happily
the
same
is
not
valid
for
the
satire.
Under
the
outer
skin
it
is
different
from
what
we
see
as
satire.
The
actors
are
in
the
mood
for
some
serious
fun
here.
While
Ali
Zafar
sparkles
in
the
embrace
of
the
script's
feisty
wit,
Pradhuman
Singh
as
an
Osama
look-alike
too
seems
to
have
fun
biting
the
bait.
His
scenes
with
a
beautician
(Sugandha
Garg)
who
touches
up
his
face
are
deliciously
suggestive.
While
Tere
Bin
Laden
is
many
notches
above
the
run-of-the-mill
satire,
as
a
spectral
swipe
at
Osama-phobia,
Bush-bashing
and
global
terrorism
this
one
doesn't
quite
make
the
cut.
Story first published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 17:10 [IST]