Bollywood's spoof Osama bin Laden movie proves global hit

A small budget film about a fake Osama bin Laden video has become one of India's biggest box office hits of the year and is about to hit American cinema screens. Tere Bin Laden (Without You Laden) has grossed more than $2m in India, despite having a first-time director and initially only being shown on 344 screens. The film tells the story of a young journalist from Pakistan whose repeated attempts to obtain a visa to the US to pursue his media career are thwarted. Finally he resorts to unscrupulous means by making a bogus Bin Laden video to sell to the news channels with disastrous results. The film's main character is played by one of Pakistan's biggest pop stars, Ali Zafar, the first time a Bollywood film has featured a Pakistani actor in a main role. Zafar said he hoped the film would challenge people's misconceptions about his country. "People in Pakistan, especially the educated youth, are by and large very liberal and desire progression and peace," he said. "People who have seen pirated copies of the film in Pakistan have loved it and are open to it." The film, directed by Abhishek Sharma, has been banned in Pakistan, for fear of provoking attacks on cinemas by Bin Laden sympathisers. Zafar said: "I don't think the government is willing to take any risks because it's a very precarious situation. I do understand where they are coming from. If a single incident happens in Britain and the US, you see how perturbed people are and all the sadness that comes with it. In Pakistan, something like this happens almost every other day. Pakistan is a country in a lot of turmoil." He denied claims that it made light of terrorism attacks, but insisted it focused on attitudes in the west towards Pakistanis. "As soon as Bin Laden's name is mentioned, there are issues and perceptions that come with it. But the point of the movie is to comment on that and how fear is generated. Through humour, some very serious issues can be commented upon." The film recouped its budget in India alone and has made a further £200,000 in the UK, Middle East and Australia, despite limited releases. That figure is expected to double when the film is released in the US on Friday. Production company Walkwater Media said the delay of the US opening was not due to the nature of the storyline, but to test the waters in smaller markets first. Aarti Shetty, producer, said: "We were always going to release the film in the US a little later. When it released in India and we looked at the media support and numbers, we thought we should make use of the buzz around the movie."