October 24, 2026: Udta Teer starts with an unusual premise. A Pakistani spy sent to India after Operation Sindoor suffers a serious head injury and loses his memory. His superiors in Rawalpindi panic, his contacts in India struggle to contain the damage, and the mission quickly turns into a comedy of errors. The spy, who no longer remembers his real identity, even begins hunting for the man he believes himself to be.
It is a setup that offers plenty of room for absurd humour. Unfortunately, the film struggles to make the most of it. Despite a few entertaining moments, the story often loses direction, leaving viewers with a comedy that has energy but rarely delivers the laughs it promises.
Directed by Akash A Kaushik, known for writing Housefull 4 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and 3, Udta Teer attempts to turn the spy thriller genre into a full-blown comedy. The idea brings to mind Hollywood spy parodies such as those associated with Mel Brooks and Mike Myers. However, the film lacks the sharp writing and consistent humour needed to make such an approach work.
The story follows Bilal Ahmed, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, a Pakistani agent operating in India under the identity of Vikrant Thapar. To maintain his cover, he is married to Yamini, played by Sara Ali Khan, whose mother, portrayed by Supriya Pilgaonkar, is already worried about the state of her daughter’s marriage.
Yamini works in the finance department of India’s defence ministry, making her an unwitting part of Bilal’s carefully planned cover. But when he loses his memory, the mission falls apart. The agent who once knew exactly what he was doing can no longer distinguish between his real identity and the one he has adopted.
Udta Teer : Ayushmann Hits the Mark, But the Film Misses
His superiors, General Mir (Gulshan Grover) and Niyazi (Ram Kapoor), are left scrambling to manage the situation. Their attempts to regain control provide some of the film’s comic moments, although the humour is not always as effective as the premise suggests.
Khurrana is the Udta Teer film’s biggest strength. He plays Bilal as a man caught between two identities, completely unaware of the confusion he is causing. The role suits his ability to take on unconventional characters, and his performance gives the otherwise uneven screenplay some much-needed stability.
The supporting cast also has its moments. Gulshan Grover and Ram Kapoor lean into the absurdity of their roles as Pakistani military officials trying to contain a disastrous operation. Suhail Nayyar, as another infiltrator working within India’s counter-terrorism setup, adds to the confusion. Smita Tambe and Rahul Bose make the most of their limited screen time.
A particularly notable performance comes from Mukul Dev, in his final screen appearance. He plays a bumbling terrorist whose plans for suicide attacks repeatedly threaten to go wrong. His character adds another layer of chaos to a story that already has plenty of it.
Sara Ali Khan, however, gets a relatively underdeveloped role. Yamini has the potential to be more than just the unsuspecting wife caught in the middle of a spy mission, but the screenplay gives her little room to develop beyond that function.
The film also stumbles when it attempts humour around questions of identity and language. One exchange involving Bilal’s apparent transformation into Vikrant relies on the assumption that a Hindu character would not know how to read Urdu. Rather than creating a genuinely funny moment, the scene comes across as poorly thought out and risks reinforcing an uninformed stereotype.
This is one of the larger problems with Udta Teer. The film frequently mistakes outrageous situations for effective comedy. Its characters move from one crisis to another, but the writing does not always provide enough wit or logic to make the chaos entertaining. The result is a story that keeps moving without building much momentum.
The contrast with films such as Dhurandhar also highlights the challenge facing Udta Teer. While the latter aims to make a mockery of espionage and military intrigue, it never fully establishes control over the genre it is trying to parody. The premise is promising, but the execution remains inconsistent.
That said, Udta Teer is not without its charms. Khurrana’s performance, the supporting cast’s commitment and a handful of genuinely amusing situations prevent it from becoming a complete misfire. Viewers willing to overlook the loose screenplay and uneven humour may find enough here for a mildly entertaining watch.