Udta Teer (2026)
Udta Teer Review: Ayushmann Khurrana Anchors a Zany Spy Caper That Puts Comedy Before Cohesion
Udta Teer arrives as one of the more curious propositions of 2026: a Hindi spy comedy that takes the familiar cross-border espionage template and turns it inside out for laughs. Directed and written by Aakash Kaushik in his feature debut, and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions alongside Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, the film pairs Ayushmann Khurrana with Sara Ali Khan in a story that cheerfully dismantles the seriousness of the genre. It is a picture that knows exactly what it wants to be—silly, fast, and warmly irreverent—and largely delivers on those terms, even if its construction leaves something to be desired.
The film marks a notable collaboration between two production houses with sharply different sensibilities—Dharma’s glossy mainstream polish meeting Sikhya’s indie instincts, a partnership that previously yielded The Lunchbox, Kill, and the series Gyaarah Gyaarah. Here the combination produces something looser and more eccentric than either banner typically delivers. Kaushik, working from his own script, leans heavily into the absurdity of a spy who cannot quite remember he is a spy, and the result is a comedy that trades the usual chest-thumping for something closer to farce.
The Indian Express framed the premise neatly, describing Ayushmann’s character as “a Pakistani jasoos” who has forgotten his own identity, while The Hollywood Reporter India memorably labelled the film a “reverse Dhurandhar“—positioning it as a mirror image of the grim, ultra-serious spy thrillers that have dominated the Hindi box office in recent years. That framing captures the film’s appeal well: it is a deliberate counter-programming move, a comedy that exists precisely because the spy genre has grown so solemn.
The cast is a significant asset. Khurrana, one of Hindi cinema’s most dependable comic performers, brings his characteristic everyman bewilderment to a role that demands both physical comedy and a touch of pathos, while Sara Ali Khan provides lively counterpoint. The supporting ensemble is unusually deep for a comedy of this type, drawing on veterans like Rahul Bose, Ram Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, and Supriya Pilgaonkar alongside Brijendra Kala and Sujail Nayyar. The film also stands as a posthumous tribute to Mukul Dev, who passed away in 2025 and to whom the trailer launch was dedicated. Composer duo Sachin–Jigar supply a soundtrack that includes the single “Bhootni Ka” and Emiway Bantai’s Bollywood soundtrack debut on “Choozay,” adding to the film’s boisterous, youth-skewing energy. Whether Udta Teer holds together as a whole is open to debate, but as a vehicle for Khurrana’s comic timing and a cheerful thumb in the eye of the spy genre, it hits its target.
Udta Teer Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana and Sara Ali Khan Lead a Veteran Ensemble
The film brings together two of Hindi cinema’s most likable leads alongside a deep bench of character actors:
Ayushmann Khurrana leads the film as a Pakistani intelligence operative who loses his memory and finds himself adrift in India, a premise that allows him to deploy the hapless charm and quick comic instincts that have defined his career. Sara Ali Khan stars opposite him, bringing energy and presence to a role that positions her at the centre of the film’s chaotic action. The pairing of two performers known for warmth and likeability is central to the movie’s appeal.
The supporting cast is a testament to the film’s ambition, drawing on some of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable faces. Rahul Bose, Ram Kapoor, and Gulshan Grover bring varying shades of authority, menace, and comic exasperation to the proceedings, while Supriya Pilgaonkar and Brijendra Kala add the kind of lived-in, character-actor texture that grounds a comedy in something resembling reality. Suhail Nayyar and Sandeep Anand round out the ensemble. The film also holds special significance as the second posthumous release for Mukul Dev, who died in 2025; at the trailer launch, Ayushmann Khurrana publicly remembered the late actor and dedicated the film to his memory.
Udta Teer Plot: A Spy Who Forgot He Was a Spy
The premise of Udta Teer inverts the standard espionage formula. Rather than following a hyper-competent operative executing a flawless mission, the film centres on a Pakistani spy who finds himself in India without any recollection of who he is or what he was sent to do. Stripped of his training, his mission brief, and his sense of purpose, he is forced to improvise his way through a series of increasingly absurd situations while the machinery of Indian intelligence attempts to close in on him.
The title—which translates literally to “flying arrow” and is used idiomatically to mean “trouble”—captures the film’s tone perfectly. This is a comedy built on the collision between the deadly seriousness of cross-border espionage and the fundamental silliness of a man who cannot remember which side he is on. The narrative unfolds as a series of escalating misunderstandings and near-misses, with the protagonist stumbling from one predicament to the next while his pursuers trip over themselves in turn.
Along the way, he encounters Sara Ali Khan’s character and a sprawling cast of officials, handlers, and bystanders, each of whom adds another layer of complication to his predicament. The film’s humour derives from the gap between what the audience knows—that this bumbling figure is supposedly a trained operative—and what the characters around him suspect. It is, in essence, a farce dressed in the trappings of a spy thriller, and it leans into that contradiction with evident relish.
By the time the story reaches its conclusion, the film has taken its protagonist through a gauntlet of comic ordeals that test both his memory and his luck. Whether he recovers his identity, completes whatever mission he was originally assigned, or simply survives the experience is a question the film answers with the kind of cheerful disregard for convention that defines its entire approach. Udta Teer is not a film interested in the mechanics of espionage; it is interested in the comedy of a man completely out of his depth, and on that front it delivers.
“Some spies are born. Some just forget.”