Udta Teer

A few years back, Ayushmann Khurrana created a genre for himself by playing the everyday man in numerous slice-of-life comedies. Khurrrana has had a few releases in the last two years, but none have been able to put him back in the spot he had created and ruled (at the box office) for a considerable amount of time. Udta Teer, directed by Aakash Kaushik, brings Khurrana back to his comedic elements. While he doesn’t play a regular guy with relatable problems, Udta Teer still can be put in a genre of comedies that the actor has aced in the past. In his latest film, Khurrana plays a Pakistani spy in India, who suffers post trauma memory loss, which leads to complexities for the neighbour state. The story, also written by Kaushik, has the perfect ingredients to make for a roaring entertainer. Does it deliver? Let’s find out.

इस फिल्म ‘उड़ता तीर’ (Udta Teer) की कहानी तो इसका ट्रेलर ही पूरी तरह से बता देता है कि भारत के जासूसों से परेशान पाकिस्तान ने अपना एक बंदा भारत में भेजा हुआ है। एक हादसे में इस बंदे की याद्दाश्त चली जाती है। उसे अब देशभक्ति तो याद है लेकिन देश याद नहीं है। कभी पाकिस्तान को खबरें भेजने वाला बंदा अब जय हिन्द कहते हुए पाकिस्तान से आए बंदों को चुन-चुन कर मार रहा है। ‘धुरंधर’ के आने के बाद यह तो खैर तय हो गया था कि अब जब कभी भी हिन्दी सिनेमा के पर्दे पर जासूसों, एजेंटों की बात होगी, हिन्दुस्तान-पाकिस्तान की बात होगी तो उसे सीधे ‘धुरंधर’ से तौला जाएगा। यही कारण है कि यशराज जैसे बड़े बैनर से आई बड़े-बड़े सितारों वाली ‘ऐल्फा’ को क्रिटिक्स और पब्लिक ने जम कर धोया था। ‘उड़ता तीर’ (Udta Teer) बनाने वालों ने समझदारी यह दिखाई है कि इन्होंने अपनी फिल्म को कॉमेडी के रैपर में ऐसा लपेटा है कि यह कहीं कॉमिक्स नुमा, कहीं स्पूफ नुमा तो कहीं सेटायर नुमा होती हुई आपको हंसाती रहती है। हास्य का यही तड़का इस फिल्म को देखने लायक बनाता है।

Can you imagine a spy comedy that uses cross-border tensions, mistaken identities and political undertones to deliver laughs? Udta Teer, directed by Aakash Kaushik, starts on a high note and promises a thoroughly entertaining ride. The film gets its comic timing right early on, and the first half is genuinely hilarious. Unfortunately, it struggles to maintain that momentum after the interval. The biggest strength of Udta Teer is its writing in the first half. The situations are funny, the dialogue often lands, and several scenes are smartly constructed around the political context without making the humour feel forced. The film knows the absurdity of its premise and makes good use of it. There are moments when the comedy is sharp, unexpected and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.

It looked too good to be true. A mainstream hero of a stirred-up democracy championing a contentious padosi mulk’s cause is as brave as Ayushmann Khurrana’s oeuvre of out-of-the-box characters gets. But Udta Teer’s flight of fantasy goes only thus far and no further. When the choice is between Pakistani intelligence and Indian patriotism, the verdict is as clear as day. All works should be seen as a whole but writer Akash A Kaushik’s directorial debut is akin to watching two movies in one – the first half is doused in goofy irreverence having a ball without batting an eyelid, the other is an exercise in appeasement at the cost of jarring tonal shifts.

There is very little joy in watching a Bollywood spy comedy these days. You’re always on high alert. The suspense stems from the anticipation of exactly when the movie will break. The trust issues are immense. You know the drill: spoofy first half, serious second half. If it starts on an entertaining note, you sense there’s a catch. If it’s funny, you feel a bit guilty for laughing because you know the film will eventually reveal itself: intellectually, politically, patriotically. Humour disarms an audience more than violence and gore, so you know comedy is the prettiest trojan horse to soften the hall for mandatory India-shining messages. Being mean-spirited is a bonus.

A sleeper agent of Pakistan’s ISI, Bilal (Ayushmann Khurrana), infiltrates India’s Counter Terrorism Squad (CTS), only to lose his memory in an accident and forget his real identity. With dime-a-dozen spy thrillers flooding Bollywood, Udta Teer feels like a refreshing mockumentary-style satire that offers a funny take on the genre. At least, that’s how it begins. An Indian agent proclaims, ‘Mulk ke aagey kuch nahi’, only for it to emerge that he is actually Pakistani and means the same for his own country. But when he and his allies risk blowing their cover, a fatal accident leaves him with amnesia, triggering chaos and comedy as he suddenly becomes loyal to India. Deshbhakti yaad hai, par desh nahi.