Uri: The Surgical Strike


Uri: The Surgical Strike is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language military action film. It is directed and written by debutant Aditya Dhar. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala, the film stars Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Yami Gautam, Mohit Raina and Kirti Kulhari. The plot is a dramatised account of the retaliation to the 2016 Uri attack, following Major Vihaan Singh Shergill of the Indian Army, who plays a leading role in the events.
The film was released on 11 January 2019 and grossed worldwide. It has received generally positive reviews from critics and ranks among the highest-grossing Indian films. The film has been a recipient of [|various accolades].

Plot

The film is divided into five chapters.

The Seven Sisters ([North-east India])

The first chapter opens up with an ambush in June 2015 on the convoy of the Indian Army troops in Chandel, Manipur by NSCN militants. In retaliation, Major Vihaan Singh Shergill, a Para SF officer and his unit including his brother-in-law Major Karan Kashyap infiltrate and attack the Northeastern militants and also kill its key leader responsible for the ambush. After a successful strike the Prime Minister of India congratulates him and the whole unit at a formal dinner. Vihaan requests an early retirement as he wants to be close with his mother, who is suffering from Stage VI Alzheimer's on which the Prime Minister offers him a desk job at New Delhi near his mother instead of retirement to which he agrees.

An Unsettling Peace ([New Delhi])

The second chapter shows Vihaan taking a desk job at the Integrated Defence Staff HQ in New Delhi and him spending time with his family. This segment also shows a brief description of the Pathankot attack. A nurse named Jasmine D'Almeida is assigned to take care of Vihaan's mother. Vihaan meets an Indian Air Force pilot named Flight Lieutenant Seerat Kaur who is trying to prove her patriotism to her martyred husband who was an army officer who died in an ambush. One fine day his mother goes missing. He searches for her and he blames Jasmine for ignorance and tells Jasmine that there is no need for her security. Vihaan's mother is found under a bridge and Jasmine reveals herself as an intelligence agent. The film reveals a note of why the families of the special forces soldiers were given security due to the threat from the North-eastern terrorists.

Bleed India with Thousand Cuts ([Uri, Jammu and Kashmir])

On 18 September 2016, four heavily armed militants attack the brigade headquarters at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir at dawn, killing 19 soldiers in their sleep. The terrorists are killed but Karan dies in grenade explosion due to accidentally pulling the pin which was attached to the terrorist's rifle, which he picked up to examine. The whole family becomes devastated including Vihaan. The Ministry decides to take strict action against the perpetrators of the attack. National Security Advisor Govind Bharadwaj suggests the idea of a surgical strike. The Prime Minister gives it a go and gives ten days for the strike. Vihaan leaves his desk job and leaves for Northern Command base in Udhampur. He requests Chief of the Army Staff General Arjun Singh Rajawat to count him in the operation to which he agrees. Vihaan chooses the elite Ghatak Force commandos from the Bihar Regiment and the Dogra Regiment along with the special forces as most of the soldiers killed in the attack were from these regiments. Vihaan informs them that they are no longer able to use their phones, and disguises the mission as regular training exercises. The commandos begin their training.

Naya Hindustan (New India) ([New Delhi])

During the planning, Govind ropes in ISRO, DRDO and RAW. When he goes to meet the DRDO Chief Brian D'Souza, he chances to meet an intern named Ishaan who has developed a drone called Garuda which looks and is shaped like an Eagle. With the help of the drones and satellite images they are able to get the exact location of the hideouts and training camps of the terrorists. Jasmine reveals her true name as Pallavi Sharma to Vihaan and during an interrogation, the two are able to extract information about who planned the attack. He chooses Seerat to be his pilot, who agrees wholeheartedly. Govind also suggests to intensify the artillery shelling at the border for distraction and also to paint their assault helicopters with Pakistani Air Force markings. The commandos also start training under Vihaan. The Pakistani officials suspect the Indian activities but dismiss it due to underestimation.

The Surgical Strike ([Pakistan controlled Kashmir])

On the night of 28 September, the commandos leave for the strike in Pakistan controlled Kashmir in Mi-17 helicopters. During the mission Vihaan's helicopter is forced not to cross the Line of Control due to latest intelligence from spies in Pakistan that the Pakistani Army has deployed an "AWAC" Early Warning Radar-based Surface to Air Missile system in Muzafarabad sector to bring their helicopter down. He and his team improvise by going on foot through a cave. His team successfully infiltrate and kill all the terrorists on the two launchpads. Similarly, other commando teams also manage to kill all of the terrorists. Vihaan kills Idris and Jabbar, who are the perpetrators of the Uri attack. The local police are alerted and the commandos who are low on ammunition and time escape. On their way back, they are heavily rained down upon by gunfire from both a nearby machine gun bunker and a Pakistani Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter which was scrambled to intercept Vihaan's team. Flight Lieutenant Seerat comes to their rescue by firing back both at the Pakistani gunship thus driving it away and eliminating the machine gun bunker. His team successfully crosses LoC on the Indian side with no casualties. The rest of the assigned teams are also successful and are back with no casualties. Vihaan lands at Hindon Air Force Station at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The film ends with him, Pallavi, Govind and the commandos happily having a formal dinner with the Prime Minister.
In a post-credits scene, Zameer, a Pakistani minister wakes up and shouts in frustration while seeing the news of India's successful surgical strike and the scene cuts to a title card reading "Jai Hind".

Cast

Uri was announced by producer Ronnie Screwvala one year after the surgical strike in September 2017. The film was to be directed by debutant Aditya Dhar. He said that the film is "the story of what was imagined to have happened in those eleven days." The principal photography began in June 2018 and was finished in September. Kaushal went through extensive military training for five months and gained weight. He trained for five hours a day and three to four hours of military training to enhance the stamina. He also received gun training at the naval base in Cuffe Parade in Mumbai. He called it "physically the most challenging film for me". He injured his arm while filming an action sequence in it.
Kaushal and the supporting cast trained at Mumbai's Navy Nagar with Captains and Majors teaching them slithering, using arms and ammunitions and other drills used by the armed forces. Uri was largely shot in Serbia and was wrapped up in Mumbai. The Indo-Pak border, the LOC and other areas resembling military posts and terrorist camps were recreated in Serbia. Yami Gautam underwent mixed martial arts training. She called the process of shooting as "exhausting yet enjoyable." The film also stars Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina, Ivan Rodrigues and Kirti Kulhari. Screwvala said that the film has elements of "war, action, and strategy based on a true story" that the "Indian audience is yet to watch such experience in cinema."

Marketing and release

A teaser was launched one day before the second anniversary of the strike on 27 September 2018.
The official trailer of film was released on 5 December 2018.
The film was released on 11 January 2019. The film was digitally premiered on ZEE5 Platform on 19 March 2019. To curtail piracy, the makers of Uri: The Surgical Strike deployed a 3.8 gigabyte fake version of the film over networks like torrent. However, the film was leaked by the bootleg website Tamil Rockers within a week of release. The Telugu dubbed version of the film was released with the same name on 14 June 2019.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 6/12. Namrata Joshi, writing for The Hindu, stated: "Whichever side of the political divide one may stand, one can't dismiss Dhar's canniness and craft, despite knowing that he is lionising the obvious and providing a one-sided narrative."
Amman Khurana of Times Now News, giving 3 stars out of 5, comments: "Uri: The Surgical Strike is a rather mature film. It somehow knows that it is catering to the viewer that is tired of watching the men in uniform who thump their chests to show their love and passion for the country." He further has to say: "The stunning cinematography and the VFX work ensure that Uri: The Surgical Strike does not pass off as a comic-book account of the operation." He concludes: "Uri: The Surgical Strike is a good one-time watch. If not for anything else, watch it for Vicky Kaushal, who brings the right amount of intensity to his role and drives the film from start to finish." Taran Adarsh rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5, says "Uri is one film that *should* be watched… Absorbing screenplay, superbly executed combat scenes, efficient direction Aditya Dhar… Uri is thrilling, gripping, instils patriotism, without getting jingoistic."

Box office

Uri: The Surgical Strike in opening weekend earned 35.73 crore from domestic circuit. In the first weekend, the film collected 70.94 crore from India. It grossed 289.68 crore from India and from overseas, taking the worldwide gross collection to .
The film crossed the mark in gross collection on 8th day of its release. It took 15 days to gross and in its fourth week of release, it grossed . It took seven weeks to gross worldwide.
Uri: The Surgical Strike is the 3rd highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2019. Based on box office collection, the film became the tenth highest-grossing film by 5 March 2019 produced in Bollywood until that date.

Awards and nominations

CeremonyDateCategoryRecipientResult
National Film Awards9 August 2019Best DirectorAditya Dharrowspan="4"
National Film Awards9 August 2019Best ActorVicky Kaushal-
National Film Awards9 August 2019Best AudiographyBishwadeep D. Chatterjee-
National Film Awards9 August 2019Best Music Director Shashwat Sachdev-
Screen Awards8 December 2019Best ActorVicky Kaushal
Screen Awards8 December 2019Best DirectorAditya Dhar
Screen Awards8 December 2019Best FilmRSVP Movies
Screen Awards8 December 2019Most Promising Debut DirectorAditya Dhar
Screen Awards8 December 2019Best Sound DesignerBishwadeep Chatterjee
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best ActorVicky Kaushal
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best Background ScoreShashwat Sachdev
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best CinematographyMitesh Mirchandani
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best ActionStefan Richter
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best EditingShivkumar V Panicker
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best Production DesignAditya Kanwar
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best Sound DesignBishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee
Nihar Ranjan Samal
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best Special EffectsYRF Studio
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020Best Debut DirectorAditya Dhar
Filmfare Awards15 February 2020R. D. Burman Award For Upcoming Music TalentShashwat Sachdev

Impact

The protagonist in the film asks his squad "How's the Josh?" The squad replies "High, Sir!". This question is asked to the cadets in military academies in India to test their enthusiasm. This dialogue went viral over Indian social media. The dialogue was quoted by several individuals and institutions. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the National Museum of Indian Cinema of Films Division of India in Mumbai, asked this question at the beginning of his address to the film fraternity attending the ceremony. The Indian Cricket Team, after winning ODI series in New Zealand, raised the morale of the team by asking "How’s the Josh?" for the coming Twenty20 series; and Mumbai Police used the slogan to raise awareness about cybersecurity.

Soundtrack

composed songs for the film. Kumaar, Raj Shekhar and Abhiruchi Chand are the lyricists.