Uri: The Surgical Strike is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language war action thriller film written and directed by debutant Aditya Dhar and produced by Ronnie Screwvala under the RSVP Movies banner.
[5] A fictionally dramatised account of the true event of the retaliation to the 2016 Uri attack, the film stars Vicky Kaushal along with Yami Gautam, Paresh Rawal, Kirti Kulhari and Mohit Raina in pivotal roles, and tells the story of Major Vihaan Shergill (Vicky Kaushal) of the Para (Special Forces), who played a leading role in the events.
The first chapter opens up with an ambush in June 2015 on the convoy of the Indian Army troops in Chandel, Manipur by NSCN(K) militants.
[11] 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.
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.
The film reveals why the families of the special forces soldiers were given security due to the threat from the North-eastern terrorists.
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.
[11][12][13][14][15] During the planning, Govind ropes in ISRO (for providing satellite images), DRDO (for drone surveillance), and RAW (for intelligence).
Jasmine reveals her true name as Pallavi Sharma to Vihaan, and during an interrogation, the two extract information about who planned the attack.
Govind also suggests intensifying the artillery shelling at the border for distraction and painting their assault helicopters with Pakistani Air Force markings.
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 at the Pakistani gunship, thus driving it away and eliminating the machine gun bunker.
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.
[25] 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.
[27] To curtail piracy, the makers of Uri: The Surgical Strike deployed a 3.8 gigabyte fake version of the film over networks like torrent.
[32] 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 and Vicky Kaushal as the Army officer was brilliant."
Amman Khurana of Times Now News, giving 4 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."
"[34][35] Rajeev Masand of News 18 gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Vicky Kaushal is in especially good form as the protagonist, looking every bit the army man.
For the first half, Aditya manages this tight-rope walk efficiently, aided by the strong work of DOP Mitesh Mirchandani.