New Delhi, Oct. 23 -- Of the many musical gags in Udta Teer, one made me surprisingly wistful. Agent Vikrant (Ayushmann Khurrana) is shown watching the music video for A.R. Rahman's 'Vande Mataram and becoming emotional. It's intended as parodic patriotism, but it reminded me of when this version came out in 1997 and was received as a dynamic reworking, not an imposition. It's also hard not to think of Gurus of Peace, a Rahman-Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan track on the same album, especially when Udta Teer reminds us, with a cover of Dum Mast Qalandar playing over a shootout, how Pakistan's music is still a presence in our films but not Pakistani artists.

Vikrant being a heart-on-sleeve patriot is a joke within a larger joke. Early in the film, ...