Amid testosterone-driven, do-or-die espionage thrillers in Hindi cinema, comes Ayushmann Khurrana’s spy comic caper Udta Teer. Directed by Akash Kaushik — who has written screenplays for hits like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 — this one comes with laughs guaranteed.
Its premise is quirky and clever: a militant infiltrates an enemy country’s intelligence agency, posing as one of its own. But when he loses his memory — and with it, the purpose of his mission — things go south, for him and for those who recruited him.
If it’s reminding you of a recent spy thriller blockbuster, you aren’t mistaken. Akash himself has called his film “a Dhurandhar in reverse.”
The mole in the agency
Udta Teer follows Bilal (Ayushmann), a Pakistani spy working in India’s Counter Terrorism Squad as Vikrant. With his kohl-rimmed eyes, Vikrant is a daredevil who is always locking horns with Dhruv (Suhail Nayyar), his counterpart, for being impulsive. It is soon established that Dhruv is indeed Ashraf, and the two, along with a few others, have planted themselves in the agency, leaking secrets and cleverly messing up encounters with Pakistani militants. Their latest mission involves Azgar Maqsood, who organised a revenge operation post Operation Sindoor.
Vikrant has also cleverly married an Indian woman, Yamini (Sara Ali Khan), echoing Alia Bhatt’s Raazi. But their marriage is on the rocks — now that he has used her to get close to her influential father, Vikrant no longer has any real need to stay married to her.
The chief of Indian Intelligence, Burman, played by the versatile Rahul Bose, cares little about losing the catch — in this case, Maqsood (Mukul Dev). What he wants is the mole in his own outfit, and he has already figured out that the troublemaker is the cocky Vikrant. When Vikrant and Dhruv once again botch an encounter, Burman confronts Vikrant, triggering a chase that ends in an accident. Burman is left in hospital with broken bones, unable to speak — his bulging eyes screaming, “I know who you are.” The entire hospital portion keeps you laughing throughout.
Vikrant, meanwhile, has lost his memory. He feels incomplete, and knows only that his mission is to protect his country — he just can’t remember which one. Across the LoC, Dhruv/Ashraf reluctantly informs their General Niazi (Ram Kapoor) that Bilal has become a real-life version of Aamir Khan’s amnesiac hero from Ghajini.
As the plot takes a complete turn, misadventures follow thick and fast. At a time when topics like nationalism, religion, and politics have become touchy, Udta Teer disarms you with humour without ever mocking the issues themselves.
Clever references
The laughs come from mistaken identities, which the narrative uses to keep the comedy and the spy plot moving in tandem. It’s a clever touch having the ominous ‘Nayak Nahi Khalnayak Hai Tu’ — from Sanjay Dutt’s Khalnayak — trail Vikrant/Bilal wherever he goes.
Then come the Sunny Deol references. After all, who but him and his ‘dhai kilo ka haath’ (two-and-a-half-kilo hand) has been the flag-bearer of nationalism? These Bollywood nods arrive precisely when the humour threatens to flag, and they land the guffaws.
Ayushmann is effortless, hitting the ball out of the park as a man caught between two identities. Sara, with little screen time, has no scope for performance.
A strong supporting cast gives Ayushmann his ammunition. Rahul Bose and Suhail Nayyar on one side, and, across the border, Gulshan Grover as the Pakistani president and Ram Kapoor as the general. The film also marks the late Mukul Dev’s final screen appearance.
A light touch on a heavy subject
Though espionage drives the plot, it’s the characters navigating it who make the film funny. There’s no jingoism, no sloganeering, and nobody out to kill in the name of nationalistic pride. The film pokes fun at cross-border rivalry in a light-hearted, entertaining way.
Fun, clever, and quirky, Udta Teer doesn’t take itself too seriously. It simply aims to entertain. But it’s far from perfect, wobbling as it tries to balance slapstick with sudden bursts of high-stakes espionage action. Still, at a time when several big-ticket films leave you asking “why?” Udta Teer leaves you asking “why not?”