Bollywood films a costume satire on terrorism

There's usually not much room for humour when dealing with such a delicate topic as terrorism. However, a new Bollywood film is taking a rather different approach to the post 9/11 world.

Central to its plot is the world's most wanted man and a pretty convincing costume change.

‘Tere Bin Laden’ or ‘Without you Laden’ is not a film on Bin Laden, it’s not his biography. Nor is it a glorification of terrorism, but rather a very relevant satire on the way Pakistanis and Muslims are looked at with suspicion in the West today, and how the media can be fooled into believing something that doesn’t exist.

“It’s a satire on the post-9/11 world of which Bin Laden happens to be a very important character. And this is a film on a fake Bin Laden tape. It’s not insensitive or offensive in any way, and anybody from any part of the world is going to enjoy this film,” explains director Abhishek Sharma.

It’s a mad comedy set in Pakistan where a young journalist is fixated with going to America and decides his ticket to get there is an interview with Osama Bin Laden. So he goes about creating a fake Osama tape using a look-alike.

Pradhuman Singh plays the look-alike so well they had to keep the 25-year old actor under wraps to prevent stampedes while making the film.

“I had gone to a shopping mall in Noida to promote this film and there was a commotion there. A crowd of more than one hundred people gathered – some were falling in the stampede. I was scared they might attack me, but nothing like that happened. They wanted to shake my hand, and take my autograph. So I signed, “With love, Osama,” Singh says.

Ali Zafar, who plays the journalist, is a Pakistani singer and this is his debut film. How does he feel acting in an Indian film set in Pakistan?

“In Pakistan, Bollywood films are greatly appreciated. They are seen, people enjoy them. To see a Pakistani in a Bollywood film is something refreshing and new. I get to hear that people back home are very excited to see the movie. You have a Bollywood movie, a Pakistani acting in it, the role is that of a Pakistani, it’s about Pakistan. There are a lot of interesting factors in it,” Zafar says.

But the selling point of this movie is Osama bin Laden. And you can’t have an Osama look-alike without an Osama line. So RT asked Pradhuman to act the part.