Tere Bin Laden (2010)

Cautiously Recommended

India

Feature Film

Original Title: तेरे बिन लादेन

Director: Abhishek Sharma

Writer: Abhishek Sharma

Cinematographer: Santosh Thundiiayil

Composers: Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Jaideep Sahni

Cast: Ali Zafar, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Pradhuman Singh, Sugandha Garg, Piyush Mishra, Rahul Maharya, Seema Bhargava, Barry John

A struggling Pakistani television journalist, who has long dreamt (but without success) of moving to America, decides to fake an Osama Bin Laden jihad video, which he sells (surreptitiously) to his tight boss, in order to raise the funds necessary to bribe his way to his dream, but instead he inadvertently triggers a war between the USA and Afghanistan and becomes Public Enemy No. 2, in Sharma’s mildly entertaining film, which generally misfires as satire, but succeeds better – with Zafar’s likable lead performance – as a shambling buddy comedy. Iain.Stott