Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 10, 2016)

When Abhishek Sharma began scripting a spin-off to his 2010 surprise hit Tere Bin Laden, along with his reellife Osama bin Laden, Pradhuman Singh, the writer-director started scouting for the perfect actor to play America's first African-American President, Barack Obama. He knew he had found his man when he came across a video titled President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden, which featured American rapper-comedian Iman Crosson. Popularly known as Alphacat, Iman describes himself as the "President's ghost writer" who raps all his speeches, no matter how serious they are, giving them a humorous spin. In this particular video, he had rapped Obrama's speech announcing the death of the terrorist on May 1, 2011.

"My team got in touch with Iman who's based in Los Angeles. He flew down to Mumbai and we shot with him on a large set of Abbottabad, recreating the speech and the rap," Abhishek told Mirror.

Iman has been invited to the White House twice and has managed to make the President smile with his impersonations. Obama calls him his "best mimic". To top that, the President knows that Alphacat will be impersonating him in Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive. "Obama is the central catalyst around whom the chaos unfolds. He keeps getting sucked into the conspiracy," explains Abhishek, describing his film as a 'farce' which mocks the fact that there is no documented proof of Osama's death. "I think Osama saw Tere Bin Laden before he died, if he actually died, that is..."

Sikander Kher's interaction with the reel life Obama adds to the humour. The newlyengaged actor plays a white CIA Agent, David Do-Something, who keeps misleading the President. He comes to India undercover as David Chaddha, discarding his Texan accent for a Punjabi one. "It's pretty hilarious. The first of its kind," promises Abhishek, whose upcoming film is independent of its first instalment.