Pakistan Bans Bollywood Comedy Starring Osama bin Laden Lookalike

(July 15) -- Two days before Osama bin Laden's big Bollywood debut, an Indian comedy starring a look-alike of the al-Qaida mastermind has been banned in Pakistan amid fears the movie could be used as a pretext for terrorist attacks, according to reports.

"Our full board have watched the movie and the majority has decided it's not suitable for exhibition," Masood Elahi, vice chairman of the Censor Board of Pakistan, told Reuters of "Tere Bin Laden" ("Without You Laden.")

Movie poster from Indian comedy Tere Bin Laden

Walkwater Media

Ali Zafar stars in the comedy "Tere Bin Laden" along with an actor who impersonates the al-Qaida leader.

The film stars Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar as a journalist who interviews a bin Laden look-alike in a ploy to get famous and obtain a visa to America.

Elahi declined to give a reason for the ban, but the film's distributor, Nadeem Mandviwall, said the censors were worried the comedy could trigger an attack.

"They think somebody might do something," Mandviwall told Reuters. "They're not saying there's something wrong in the film or the picture is against Osama bin Laden or maligning him."

The film, described as a "tongue-in-cheek comedy" on its official website, depicts the bin Laden look-alike as a bumbling old man who is seen grinning and yukking it up with his co-stars as he impersonates the real terror mastermind as part of the journalist character's scheme.

"You have a million-dollar face," Ali's character tells the look-alike in the film trailer.

Director Abhishek Sharma told Reuters he wasn't aiming to incite controversy with "Tere Bin Laden," which opens in India on Friday.

"It's a satire and a mad comedy," he said. "I don't want to preach."

A Times of India review dubbed "Tere Bin Laden" "a real cornball," but says the "actors are having a ball" with the script, which contains "digs on America's war against terror." Another review at the Bollywood movie website Bollywood Hungama called it "a wicked comedy with an out-of-the-box concept that offers laughter unlimited."

Fans at the film's Facebook page are decrying the ban, with one user writing, "Please allow this movie in Pakistan ... this movie is allow (sic) in all over the world. Why not in Pakistan?"

Mandviwall said he has appealed the censors' decision but is not optimistic it will be reversed.