'Tere Bin Laden' not insensitive to anyone: Abhishek Sharma

Osama Bin Laden evokes many emotions but laughter is certainly not one of them.

However, Tere Bin Laden, a tongue-in-cheek Bollywood satire by debutante director Abhishek Sharma may soon change that.

Sharma, a National School of Drama (NSD) graduate, says his film may have a humorous tone but it is a serious commentary on the world that we are living in today.

"It is a satire on the situations. It talks about the post 9/11 world and how it has changed us. It is a comment on the great American dream and the war on terror," Sharma told PTI in an interview.

Sharma said he was not apprehensive when he started the project because the film is not "insensitive" to anyone.

"I was not apprehensive to pick up a serious topic like this and give it a humorous tone. It is not insensitive or offensive to anyone. We are not making fun of Osama Bin Laden," he said.

Produced by Walkwater Media, the movie revolves around a small-time TV reporter in Karachi whose visa application for US has been rejected.

He stumbles upon an Osama Bin Laden lookalike and proceeds to create a fake tape to get to the US.

9/11 has inspired many films in Hollywood and Bollywood including recent releases New York and My Name Is Khan but when Sharma decided to make a film on the incident, he chose satire as a medium.

Starring Pakistani singer Ali Zafar as the reporter and Praduman Singh as fake Osama, the film releases on July 16.

"We have seen a lot of serious films but this was a subject which deserved a satire. It has dominated our psyche for so long that we need to see it in a funny way," Sharma said.

According to the director, most challenging part of making the film was not the script but to find the right face to play the title character.

"That was a long process. We auditioned many actors but no one fitted. I knew Praduman for a long time because we had done theatre. I knew that he was a good actor but one day I thought may be with make-up we can manage to make him look like Osama and my hunch was right. He is perfect," Sharma said.

"America is the key part in the film because like many youngsters from the Asian sub-continent, film's hero Ali too is chasing the great American dream and is ready to go to any extent to realise his dream. It also talks about how George Bush era affected the world. The film is set in that era," Sharma added.

The film will see a simultaneous release in India, Pakistan, Australia, Dubai and other parts of Asia but its release in the US has been postponed for a later date.

"We are planning to release in the US in second phase because it is an important market for us," said Sharma.

Sharma says he has nothing planned for future because he is completely taken with Tere Bin Laden.