What if a Pakistani spy working undercover in India lost his memory and started believing he was an Indian patriot? The man who was supposed to deceive the enemy suddenly becomes its most enthusiastic defender, leaving his handlers wondering how to deal with an operative who no longer remembers which side he is on.
It is an amusing premise, and Udta Teer makes the most of it for most of its runtime. Writer-director Aakash A Kaushik builds a comedy around mistaken identities, with Ayushmann Khurrana bringing his trademark ease to a character caught between two conflicting identities.
The film begins with a refreshing sense of mischief. It pokes fun at the familiar conventions of Bollywood spy thrillers, allowing Indian and Pakistani intelligence officials alike to look foolish. The jokes land, the characters are entertaining, and the central idea offers plenty of room for satire.
Then the mood changes. As Udta Teer moves into its second half, the irreverent comedy gives way to a more conventional tale of patriotism and national pride. The shift is so pronounced that the film begins to feel like two different movies stitched together.
What starts as a promising spy spoof eventually falls back on the very formula it seemed eager to mock.
The story unfolds against the backdrop of tensions following Operation Sindoor. Pakistani terrorist Azhar Maqsood (Mukul Dev) threatens retaliation, prompting Indian intelligence agencies to track his movements across the border.
In Kashmir, Vikrant Thapar (Khurrana), an officer with India’s Counter Terrorism Squad, is involved in the operation. But there is more to Vikrant than meets the eye. His real identity is Bilal Ahmed, a Pakistani operative working undercover within the Indian security establishment.
An accident changes everything. Bilal loses his memory and begins to believe that he is Vikrant, a dedicated Indian officer committed to protecting the country. His sudden change of allegiance leaves his fellow operatives bewildered, while those around him struggle to understand why he has seemingly forgotten his original mission.
Meanwhile, intelligence chief Burman (Rahul Bose) is trying to identify a mole within his team. Bilal’s erratic behaviour only makes the investigation more complicated. His personal life is equally messy, with his marriage to Yamini (Sara Ali Khan), a Defence Ministry official, on the verge of falling apart.
The setup gives Kaushik plenty to work with. The humour comes from the gap between what Bilal believes about himself and what everyone else knows. His actions make perfect sense to him, even when they threaten to derail an already complicated intelligence operation.
For a while, the film knows exactly how to use this confusion. Udta Teer is at its most entertaining when it allows the absurdity of its premise to drive the comedy. Bilal’s transformation into an enthusiastic patriot creates a series of awkward situations, particularly for those who know his real identity and cannot understand his sudden change of heart.
One of the film’s funniest exchanges comes when Ashfaq (Suhail Nayyar) tells him, “Sunny Deol bana baitha hai, tu Tara Singh nahi Ashraf Ali hai.” The nod to Gadar, and subtle reference to the archetypal Bollywood action hero highlights the ridiculousness of Bilal's situation.
Khurrana is well suited to the role. He handles the character’s confusion without making it look forced, and his comic timing is particularly effective when Bilal reacts with complete sincerity to situations that leave everyone else baffled. The actor manages to make the identity crisis entertaining without turning his character into a caricature.
Nayyar is a good foil to Khurrana. His exasperated reactions and exchanges with the lead actor provide some of the film’s liveliest moments. Their chemistry helps keep the comedy moving, even when the writing begins to rely too heavily on familiar gags.
Bose is another highlight, specially when he is lying in the hospital bed in a vegetative state. His expressive eyes and deadpan reactions often do more for a joke than the dialogue itself.
Mukul Dev also makes an impression as Azhar Maqsood. His introduction, involving a Pakistani dating app, establishes the film’s taste for unexpected comic situations. The late actor brings an amusing awkwardness to a character who might otherwise have been another routine screen villain.
Ram Kapoor, Brijendra Kala, Gulshan Grover, Raghubir Yadav and Sandeep Anand add to the ensemble’s comedic energy. The jokes initially cut across national lines, with Pakistani military officials portrayed as temperamental or incompetent and Indian officials providing their own share of comic material.
This willingness to poke fun at everyone gives the first half much of its charm. Unfortunately, the film does not sustain that approach.
The romantic subplot involving Khurrana and Sara Ali Khan never quite comes together. Yamini is a Defence Ministry official whose marriage to Vikrant is in trouble. His memory loss offers their relationship a chance to begin again, but the film does little to explore the emotional complications of that situation. Khan has limited room to develop her character, and her scenes with Khurrana lack the chemistry needed to make the troubled marriage convincing.
The writing also begins to feel repetitive as the film progresses. Some of the jokes are stretched well beyond their natural lifespan, while the repeated Bollywood references lose their initial appeal.
The biggest disappointment with Udta Teer is the way it abandons its own comic perspective. The first half suggests that the film is willing to question the conventions of the spy genre and make fun of the exaggerated patriotism that often accompanies it.
But as the story moves forward, the humour gradually gives way to a more familiar narrative as seen in most spy movies. This is the same problem that pulled down Kunal Kemmu’s Vibe a few weeks ago, and we witness a repeat here.
There is nothing wrong with a spy comedy embracing patriotism. The problem is that Udta Teer changes its tone so abruptly that its two halves barely seem to belong to the same film.
The shift also weakens the humour. Once the narrative turns serious, the jokes begin to feel out of place, while the more dramatic moments lack the depth needed to carry the story forward. The plot grows increasingly convoluted, and the film’s original promise gets lost in the effort to deliver a conventional patriotic drama.