Udta Teer

An amnesiac Pakistani spy on an Indian mission that goes massively wrong seems like a cracker of an idea. Especially when it’s being fronted by Ayushmann Khurrana, who has the ability to be both serious and droll, without getting all heavy about it. It’s too bad that the film forgets the memo, just like its hero, because it never quite knows whether it wants to be a comedy or a tragedy, getting all twisted out of shape trying to figure left, right, both, and where-do-I-go-from-here? There’s no confusion in the way it begins. An operation in Kashmir, with a crack Indian anti-terrorist team all set to smoke out dreaded terrorist Azhar Masood (Mukul Dev), goes bust when he escapes across the border. A crestfallen Vikrant (Ayushmann Khurrana) is let off the hook by his boss (Smita Tambe), but his colleague (Suhail Nayyar) grows ever suspicious: is there more going on than meets the eye? Who is Bilal Ahmed? Is the Pakistani infiltrator hiding in plain sight?

Patriotism is a difficult sentiment to practise in India today. Unlike religion, which you can choose to keep private, patriotism is something you are often expected to perform in public. The social pressure is such that you might invite a rude stare if you don’t shout “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” after the National Anthem in a cinema hall, which is perhaps the least patriotic of places. Director Akash A Kaushik’s Udta Teer raises a tricky question in this climate: is love for one’s homeland interchangeable? The film’s recurring line, “mulk ke aage kuch nahin”, makes us wonder which nation truly belongs to whom, and who gets to decide what patriotism should look like.