<h2>Director: Akash A Kaushik Actors: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sara Ali Khan Rating: 3 stars</h2>
Udta Teer is ulta teer &mdash; an arrow in the opposite direction &mdash; of the Bollywood blockbuster, <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/dhurandhar-the-revenge-enters-the-grammys-consideration-race-in-9-categories-23654309" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Dhurandhar (2025)</a>. In the sense that the hero is a Pakistani agent, having infiltrated the Indian security establishment, instead.&nbsp;
Whether or not the filmmakers will pull as much dough in/andar is another matter. The film is a political send-up of sorts.&nbsp;
The heart-thumping background score might feel inspired. The genre isn&rsquo;t the same, of course. Neither is the ambition (ideally). Evidently, the film is based on no true events or characters, as it were. Nobody can stake a claim otherwise.&nbsp;
You can tell, actor Ayushmann Khurrana has studiously bulked up. He sufficiently looks and feels the part. But the payback here has to be laughs, and laughs alone.&nbsp;
In that sense, circumstantially, the funniest character may well belong to Rahul Bose, who plays the conscientious boss of the Indian intelligence agency.&nbsp;
I say, circumstantially, because he gets to speak no lines. He&rsquo;s laid up in a hospital bed, purely paralysed, but for his big eyes, particularly pupils, that dangle like a pendulum, while he helplessly watches what&rsquo;s going on around him, privy to a secret that nobody knows.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;m told, Rahul has performed this pantomime act on the Bombay stage before. He&rsquo;s unwittingly hilarious in this film.&nbsp;
An equally corny yet rib-tickling role is actor Mukul Dev&rsquo;s. Physically bloated in a way that I didn&rsquo;t know him to be &mdash; before he sadly, suddenly passed away in May, 2025 &mdash; Mukul plays a jehadi terrorist named Azhar with &lsquo;Azer-baijan&rsquo; for his signature score, every time he steps on the screen, often swiping women in niqabs on a dating app.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/son-of-sardaar-2-movie-review-ajay-devgn-film-is-more-like-son-of-sar-dard-23587655" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Son of Sardaar 2</a> (2025), also a crackpot comedy, was the last we watched Mukul onscreen. This is a fairer farewell. Having started out as the handsome hero, Mukul was equally blessed with such quick comic timing.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s also the trustable, great Indian middleclass archetype, Brijendra Kala, as the honey-trapped Indian defence secretary. As it is, Brijendra has that naturally dead-pan face, so perfect for a full-on farce.&nbsp;
Between these three, and other sundries &mdash; the cook, the butler, soldier, and spy &mdash; you have a legit ensemble comedy, keeping you glued to their next bumbling move. This is an Indo-Pak parody of errors.&nbsp;
God knows, India-Pakistan have been the flavour of so many seasons in desi shows, films, social media, mainstream news, advertising, that the overdone premise itself was one of the reasons I had scant interest in the pic. We could all do with a wider palette for casual entertainment.&nbsp;
That said, it&rsquo;s actually the premise that the filmmakers have so wonderfully cracked that cracks you up, for the most part. Which is? That the Pak spy, having lost memory, believes he&rsquo;s the brave, patriotic Indian soldier he was planted to pose as!&nbsp;
They call what Ayushmann&rsquo;s character is going through as &ldquo;<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/sikandar-trailer-check-out-the-ghajini-connection-in-salman-khan-starrer-23505085" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Aamir Khan in Ghajini</a>.&rdquo; Minor fact-check, since it&rsquo;s a pet peeve: Ghajini was Pradeep Rawat, it&rsquo;s Aamir as Sanjay Singhania, who loses memory, fighting the titular villain in that film!
A spy with amnesia is a tested trope in action thrillers &mdash; a slapstick spoof of the same feels novel alright, with a loaded twist after another.&nbsp;
Where could the plot go beyond that phenomenal premise? Several directions, obviously &mdash; so long as it doesn&rsquo;t stray an inch from a goofy gag-fest, all along. It doesn&rsquo;t, until it does!&nbsp;
This is proficient writer-director Akash K Kaushik&rsquo;s debut with a possibly big budget production &mdash; so I&rsquo;m wondering, if too many appraisers/assessors got in to cook a Bollywood broth, eventually.&nbsp;
After a point, <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/udta-teer-x-reviews-netizens-call-ayushmann-khurrana-sara-ali-khan-spy-comedy-timepass-23656562" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Udta Teer</a> (Flying Arrow) heads to all kinds of unrelated spaces &mdash; religious number, patriotic song, etc., even introducing an unnecessary post-credit epilogue. Sure, there&rsquo;s an audience for everything. This ain&rsquo;t that film!
It felt as if they didn&rsquo;t trust the comedy long enough. By then, I&rsquo;d had more than my fair share of laughs, though. So not exactly complaining &mdash; just felt Kunal Kemmu&rsquo;s Vibe (2026), in the same genre, was slightly better, but that comparison is a compliment too.&nbsp;

Udta Teer, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, is a goofy Indo-Pak spy spoof with a cracking premise and plenty of laughs, though the comedy loses steam

Udta Teer movie review: Ayushmann Khurrana's Indo-Pak satire will crack you up

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The filmmakers have cracked a superb, desi spy premise—enough to crack you up, for the most part!

Udta Teer movie review: Pak in the popcorn

Director: Akash A Kaushik
Actors: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sara Ali Khan
Rating: 3 stars

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