~~~The King Is Naked~~~. Review on Tere Bin Laden

The big king, parade in his chariot, full naked, assuming he is wearing an expensive blue dress. People who see the King's nakedness didn't utter a word fearing the wrath of the king before a child cried out, 'the king is naked'..... What if the king continue the procession assuming the child's cry is not heard loud and people still beliefs him? Tere Bin Laden is a child's outcry to say the king is naked. It is up to the king to hear the child or not.

The makers of the film undertook the challenge of wrath from the king or those who do things to harm the king. The film speaks a subject which not many dare to speak. There had films criticising but they were more aggressive and open, but in this film the treatment is light and satire is the flavour of the film. Satire in its best form is always enjoyable, sometimes even to the people whom it is targeted.

Ali Hassan (Ali Zafar) is an ambitious Pakistani reporter whose dream is to work for glamerous channels in America. He got a rare opportunity to fly to America in the first flight operated from Pakistan since the 9/11 blockade. His casual gestures alerted the co-passengers and flight attendants. He was now a terror suspect and soon deported from America, closing all the doors of hope to return. He now works with a poorly equipped local TV Channel along with a dissatisfied crew. His various attempts and gimmicks to get another visa for America get rejected and he now banks his hope on a fake passport creator who demands lakhs for the job. In a recorded tape, he noticed a face which is similar to Osama Bin Laden and they cook up a plan to prepare a video and sell it for a huge amount. They succeed in the attempt, but the story as you assume, doesn't end there...

The movie is satirical in nature. The movie was superb in all places where it was decent and genuine in criticism. The way the west look at a south Asian, how the people are suffocated by the false media spams and how ridiculous are the stories they make no sense...all those are brilliantly pictured. Also the extra alertness of the American system and how the individual ambitions twist the truth for personal benefits - they all are well presented. However, if you by now created the impression of a high class comedy, here comes the shock! Given the thin story line which was not sufficient to fit for the 1 hr 45 minutes episode the makers added all kind of gimmicks, as low as the underground hideouts. This Cheap and nonsensical vulgar entendre pull down the film from the height to ground and down that. No wonder, the film is blessed with an A certificate.

The director needs to be applauded for the courage. He also did manage to bring out some really funny moments. The inside flight scenes, the recording of the tape, the grenade episode, the missile attacks, make up scenes are few. His fault however was not maintaining the standard. In more than many occassion, the production values were very low and it turned out to be a recorded drama, but the second half was better. The newcomer director has the potential to do good comedies, provided he keeps away from the vulgarity.

Casting is a major plus for the film. They simply fit to the roles and do their roles very well. Ali Zafar: Superb! Pradhuman Singh: Simply perfect! Zoya: Cool! Rahul Singh: Effective! Rest of the cast did their roles well.

Cinematography is average to good.

Songs are cool and choreography impressive.

Editing...hmmm....I think any more editing would reduce the film from a feature film to a short film....:)

There are many hided arrows in the film. The grenade pin removing episode, the book publishing, the morphing from google photes...they and many other scenes have more implications than its first impression. I just completed reading the book Growing Up Bin Laden, and the movie makers, it seems got the best of inspiration from it, which explains many scenes which the viewers may ignore, let it be selection of a young actor or a Peace message.

Overall, the film is entertaining for its novelty in subject, relevance to the times and for its addressing an issue who is harming the world. It could have been made much better.

My rating: 2.5 stars