| Tere Bin Laden | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Abhishek Sharma |
| Produced by | Pooja Shetty Deora Aarti Shetty |
| Story by | Abhishek Sharma |
| Starring | Ali Zafar Pradhuman Singh Sugandha Garg Piyush Mishra |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Cinematography | Santosh Thundiyil |
| Distributed by | Walkwater Media Cinergy Independent Film Services Pvt Ltd |
| Release date(s) | 16 July 2010 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi Urdu |
| Budget | 5.8 crore (US$1.1 million)[1] |
| Box office | 15 crore (US$2.85 million)[1] |
Tere Bin Laden (Hindi: तेरे बिन लादेन, Urdu: تیرے بن لادن, English: Without You, Laden / Your Bin Laden)[2] is a 2010 Bollywood satire film produced by Walkwater Media and written and directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film stars Pakistani pop singer Ali Zafar in the lead role as an ambitious young reporter, who, in his desperation to migrate to the U.S., makes a fake Osama bin Laden video using a look-alike, and sells it to TV channels. The film is a spoof on Osama Bin Laden, as well as a comic satire on America's war against terror and the realities of the post-9/11 world.[3][4][5] The film was released worldwide on 16 July 2010.
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Ali Hassan (Ali Zafar) is a reporter with Danka TV, a downmarket local TV channel in Karachi. He is keen to migrate to the US for a better life and wants to work for an american news channel. He gets a chance to fly to USA, but ruins it on board while taking his own audition. He recites the words "Hijack" and "Bomb" too many times; thus scaring his fellow on board passengers and flight crew members. As soon as he reaches the USA, he is deported immediately. Furthermore, because of this incident his Visa application is refused six times in seven years. While covering a local event for his channel, he comes across an Osama Bin Laden look-alike, Noora, and hits upon an idea to make a fake Osama tape. He manages to convince his assistant Gul about the merits of his plan. With help from his travel agent's assistant Zoya and a local radio jockey Quereshi, he is able to make the tape by tricking Noora into unknowingly posing as Bin Laden. He then sells the tape to the owner of his channel, hoping to raise money for a new false identity, a new passport and a renewed attempt at getting the elusive US Visa. However, the gravity of their action strikes them when the US Government takes the tape seriously and gets involved, as do the Pakistani intelligence agencies. A series of comic situations follow as they attempt to elude the authorities on their trail.[6]
The film crew have attempted to get the locations, costume design and language as similar as possible to that in Pakistan; and have recreated the scene of Karachi to do this.[7] Pradhuman Singh, who plays an Osama lookalike in the film, was given a Osama Bin Laden tape to watch, and later learned Arabic for eight months to get the diction.[8]
Tere Bin Laden was released on 16 July 2010, The release of the film was delayed in the USA because the producers first wanted to gauge the film's response in other countries and also considering the sensitivity of the topic in the US.[9] Pakistan's censor board renamed the title of the movie as Tere Bin and Middle East countries banned the release of the film.[10]
Tere Bin Laden garnered generally positive reviews. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India, while giving it a rating of 4 out of 5 noted, that compared with recent laugh riots at box office, "Tere Bin Laden has both: a smart script and some smart acting."[3] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL rated the film 4 out of 5 and said, "What makes 'Tere Bin Laden' mint fresh is that despite being based on the post 9/11 scenario and the Laden scare, this one is a fun ride."[11] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said, "On the whole, Tere Bin Laden is a fun-ride that makes you smile constantly and even laugh outrageously in those two hours."[12] Pankaj Sabnani of Bollywood Trade News Network gave it 3.5/5 and stated "Tere Bin Laden is 'laden' with many humourous (sic) moments. It is by far the funniest film in recent times. A must watch."[13]
Political analyst, Jyoti Malhotra in Arab international daily, Asharq Alawsat, saw the film as a "message for Pak–India Talks", referring to foreign ministers of India and Pakistan, who were meeting at the same time. According to her, the film, "promises to unite film-goers...an ingredient terribly dangerous for power-hungry politicians on any side." [14]
In India, the film opened on 350 screens and collected 5 crore in its opening weekend. Friday morning shows opened with 20-25% in key areas like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nasik,Bangalore and evening settled down to 35-40% with average occupancy cultivating first day gross box office of 1.11 crore, with glowing reviews ranging from 3-4 star ratings and strong word of mouth from audience Saturday showed an impressive jump of 80-85% and settle down to 1.75 crore, Sunday showed further jump of 66% compared to Saturday, and garnered further 2.15 crore cultivating to cumulative an astounding opening weekend collection of more than 5 crore gross. The film collected 8.25 crore (US$1.57 million) at the end of its theatrical run.[15] It was declared an average grosser at the box office.[15]
Nominated[16]
Nominated[17]
| Tere Bin Laden | ||||
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| Compilation album by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | ||||
| Released | 21 June 2010[18] | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 25:31 | |||
| Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy chronology | ||||
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The soundtrack of Tere Bin Laden was released on 21 June 2010. The music directors of the film include, Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca and Dhruv Dhalla while the lyrics have been penned by Jaideep Sahni[18]
| Track | Song | Singer(s) | Composer | Lyricists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bas Ek Soch" | Ali Zafar | Ali Zafar and Hamza Zafar | Ali Zafar and Hamza Zafar |
| 2 | "I Love Amreeka" | Ali Zafar, Akriti Kakkar | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | Jaideep Sahni |
| 3 | "Kukudu" | Master Saleem | Dhruv Dhalla | Jaspreet Singh, Dhruv Dhalla |
| 4 | "Shor Sharaba" | Suraj Jagan | Abhijit Vaghani, Dhruv Dhalla | Jaideep Sahni, Dhruv Dhalla |
| 5 | "Ullu Da Pattha" | Ali Zafar, Shankar Mahadevan | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | Jaideep Sahni |
| 6 | "Welcome To Amreeka" | Ali Zafar | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy | Jaideep Sahni |
Walkwater Media, the film's production company reportedly received threatening letters which accused the company of supporting Osama Bin Laden and terrorism by making the comedy film.[19]
Pakistan's film censor board banned the film on grounds that extremists could use it as a pretext to launch attacks.[20][21]