Dharma Productions and Sikhya Entertainment’s Udta Teer (UA) is the story of a secret service agent who is on a mission to unearth the secrets of the enemy country but due to a memory lapse, he forgets the country he belongs to and starts working for the (enemy) country he is in.
Vikrant (Ayushmann Khurrana) works for India’s secret service agency. But it soon emerges that he is Pakistan’s mole, Bilal, who has joined the Indian secret service agency. Trouble for the Pakistani army starts when Bilal has a memory lapse and considers himself to actually be an Indian, Vikrant. Pakistan’s attempts to spread terror are thwarted by their own mole because of his memory lapse. What happens thereafter?
Akash A Kaushik’s story is interesting and novel but, having said that, it must be added, it is also farcical. And farces are not universally appealing for the Indian audience. The screenplay, written by Akash A. Kaushik, Gautam Govind Sharma, Dia Walia and Madhur Sharma, has several interesting and entertaining scenes but there are also several scenes and sequences which don’t create the desired laughter. The low plausibility factor of the drama is another reason why it lacks universal appeal. Another drawback is that the drama appears convoluted at places. Also, the audience have to keep reminding themselves who Vikrant/Bilal is and, therefore, what his relationship with his friends and colleagues in India and Pakistan actually is. While the digs at Pakistan and the Pakistanis will be enjoyed by the viewers, it is also a fact that the audience have had an overdose of Pakistan-bashing films. For a subject like this to have universal appeal, it was necessary to keep the comedy quotient high throughout the drama, that too, for all sections of the audience. But the drama here would appeal mainly to viewers in the big centres. The climax ought to have been more gratifying. While the climax becomes a personal victory for Vikrant/Bilal, the element of gratification for India as a country takes a back seat.
Akash A. Kaushik’s dialogues are very enjoyable.
Ayushmann Khurrana does a very fine job. He plays Bilal/Vikrant with conviction and élan. Sara Ali Khan gets limited scope as Yamini but she delivers by performing ably and looking good. Gulshan Grover is impactful in a role — of army chief General Mir — that doesn’t offer him much scope. Rahul Bose lends lovely support as the chief of the secret service agency, Burman. His track is entertaining. Ram Kapoor is effective as Niyazi. Raghubir Yadav makes his presence felt in a brief role as the Imam. Mukul Dev leaves a mark as Azhar Maqsood. Suhail Nayyar is pretty impressive in the role of Dhruv. Sandeep Anand is terrific as Shambhu/Tariq. Brijendra Kala has his moments as Srivastava. Supriya Pilgaonkar is adequate as Yamini’s mother. Smita Tambe Dwivedi lends fair support as Holkar. Rupinder Walia is quite alright as Sodhi. Ratana Sambhav acts with aplomb in a tiny role as Niyazi’s househelp. Sandeep Kumar (s the geeky CTS member), Nancy Gill (as Sharon), Pramod Sanghi (as Arjun), Shahid Lateef (as Razaaq), Bhuvan Chopra (as Bilal’s father), Rohaan Singh (as young Bilal), Nazneen Madan (as Bilal’s mother), Mahir Raghuvanshi (as young Ashfaq), Rachana Pakai (as Sadhana Srivastava), Kavya Kumar (as Sharif), Aisha Yusufzai (as Benazir), Harish Chhabra (as A.A. Faiz), Abrendra Pratap Singh (as Bakhtiyar Ali), Abhishek Singh (as Javed), Mohammad Ebadullah (as Fazal), Sanjay Gurbaxani (as the doctor), Paulina Baginska (as Julie), and the rest do as desired.
Akash A. Kaushik’s debut direction is nice. He has handled the comedy subject with maturity. Sachin-Jigar’s music is fair. Although the Chann song is melodious, it isn’t a hit number. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are good. Song picturisations (Vijay A. Ganguly and Kruti Mahesh for Chann; Vijay A. Ganguly for Jai Hind) are alright. Ketan Sodha’s background music is effective. Harshvir Oberai’s cinematography is appealing. Action and stunt scenes (choreographed by Sea Oh Young, Mohammed Aejaz Gulab Shaikh and Mohd. Amin Khatib) are fairly thrilling. Mayur Sharma’s production designing is of a decent standard. Editing (by Shivkumar V. Panicker and Prerna Saigal) is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, Udta Teer is not the laugh riot which it should’ve been. Given its poor start, it will not be able to accomplish anything worthwhile at the ticket windows.
Released on 23-10-’26 at Inox (daily 9 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Dharma Productions. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak almost everywhere.