Director Aditya Dhar's debut film Uri: The Surgical Strike has declared a war of its own at the box office. Based on the 2016 Uri attack, the film, which has already crossed the 100-crore mark, is marching towards the 200-crore target quite effortlessly. According to trade expert Taran Adarsh, Uri has worked for multiple reasons. He said: "The choice of story as well as storytelling deserve full marks. The surgical attack and how it was executed is brilliantly depicted. Secondly, Uri is all about national pride, power and patriotism.
"Vicky Kaushal's strong performance, Aditya Dhar's superb direction, Mitesh Mirchandani's stylish cinematography and the background score and sound design are superb. Most importantly, the war cry, 'How's the josh? High, sir!' has caught on in a big, big, big way."
Trade analyst Girish Johar feels Uri has several factors going in its favour. "It is extremely well made and all the actors have performed exceedingly well. Its technical crew has also given fantastic inputs. Right from direction, to its music... its camerawork... its editing... its background score... all have come out double thumbs up."
Girish Johar also considered the "release date" as one of the important factors in making the film a hit. "Also the timing of the release worked in its favour...with the other films in opposition falling like nine pins as none of them were enjoyed by the audiences. This also helped it get a longer run at the box office."
He also attributes the spectacular Uri success to its ticket pricing. He added: "The makers very smartly manoeuvred the ticket prices which ensured that it becomes comfortable for the audiences at a wider level to watch it. This move became a double winner for them as the audiences went into repeat mode with the film, which is very rare these days."
Like Taran Adarsh, Girish Johar also felt "How's the josh" tagline worked wonders for the film. "'How's the josh' wasn't merely a tagline for film lovers anymore. Even the top political brass took to it. Even when India won the match with New Zealand and BCCI officially stated... "How's the josh... High, sir!!!" That's the Uri impact."
Praising the film, Ad filmmaker and Industry representative Ashoke Pandit said: "An honest and well-made film. Great team work. Films on soldiers at the battlefront if made sincerely never fail."
Aditya, who directed the film, seems to take the film's spectacular success in his stride. He said: "The Indian population really connected with the emotion of nationalism. We Indians are inherently very patriotic and emotional and I think because of the digital medium people really know beforehand what any film from any part of the world will offer them.
"So our desire to give something truly international and still keeping our Indian-ness intact when it comes to emotions and feel is what I feel worked really well with the audience," he added.
Is Uri too anti-Pakistan to be released in Pakistan? He said: "Our film is about a nation's fight against terrorism. Considering the Pakistanis are also suffering heavy losses due to terrorism, they along with every country in the world fighting against terrorism should see it."
"Who knows, Uri might become a tool for everyone to come together and fight against the global menace of terrorism," he said.
Uri: The Surgical Strike released on January 11. It stars actors Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam and Paresh Rawal in pivotal roles.
