Uri: The Surgical Strike Movie Review- The quintessential blend between patriotism and action-drama

Uri: The Surgical Strike is the quintessential blend between patriotism and drama. Both of these paired together leave you satisfied after watching the movie. Based on the true events of 2016, the film is an action-drama revolving around Major Vihaan Shergill (Vicky Kaushal). The film although is accused of being ‘jingoistic’ or ‘hyper-national’, however, I found these ideas to be central to the film considering it revolves around the army. It may haven been my naive approach and nationalistic political views which made me believe that the film required a nationalistic approach to retell the events of the famous surgical strikes. When Major Vihaan Shergill says “Hows the josh?”, “high sir” in a booming voice seemed like the only reply. This acts as a catalyst to make the audience completely invested in the journey of these army men.

To be fair some scenes do seem based towards right wing politics and bolster support for the current government. With the national elections coming up it is a good idea to keep this in mind and treat the film as solely a film and not let it cloud your vision of any political party. One major thing you must remember while watching this movie is that it is fictional, the movie is not exactly what happened during the surgical strike. The movie also takes a lot of liberties with this fictional retelling like the Indian government giving a major segment of the operation to an intern. This was one part of the movie where I was left scratching my head as to why this was even a part of the film as the ‘intern’ segment was avoidable. A special shoutout to the special effects team on this movie who do a much better job on these effects than we have seen in a long time in Hindi movies. The technology used seems fictional but adds to the action genre of the film.

Uri is divided into chapters, I didn’t quite understand the purpose of these chapters because seeing a black screen with “Chapter 3” written on it sucked me out of the world director Aditya Dhar created. The linearity in the storyline came across quite effectively so the usage of chapters seemed rather redundant.

The movie however is one of the best Hindi action films I have seen. Aditya Dhar manages to evoke the right emotions within the audience at the right time. The audience was extremely receptive to the Bollywood retelling of the event, and dialogue also written by Aditya Dhar landed perfectly with the audience. When Paresh Rawal character Govind says “Yeh naya Hindustan hai, yeh ghar me ghusega bhi aur marega bhi” the audience clapped all around me. Mitesh Mirchandani captures extraordinarily the beauty of Kashmir and the gritty hand held action sequence shots. Dimly lit corridors and the camera following Kaushal as he fights the terrorists creates a tension filled atmosphere.

The acting performances are also commendable in this film. Vicky Kaushal has proven that he is an able actor and in this film he will not let you down. He is able to pair the vulnerability and the josh of major Vihaan Shergill. Whenever he is on screen he demands your attention. My favourite scene is where he breaks down at a funeral, he maintains his strong physicality but with only his facial expression you can see his vulnerability at this point. The way he cries also embodies the Major. Paresh Rawal is also excellent as Govind Bharadwaj modelled on Ajit Doval former Indian intelligence and law enforcement officer. There is also Rajat Kapoor playing Narendra Modi, but on the brighter side its not mimicry he resorts to and his appearance is only fleeting. Yami Gautam and Kriti Kulhari although have important roles have barely any screen time and are forgettable in the story.

The action sequences are the biggest win for this movie. It starts with a beautifully choreographed sequence establishing the prowess of Vicky Kaushal’s character and providing him an opportunity to have a hand to hand combat accompanied by gruesome cracks of bones. The last bit of the movie containing the real surgical strikes are the most memorable part of the movie. The sound scape is fantastic, there is this one scene where Vicky Kaushal shoots at a terrorist. Both of them are in a room which has gun powder stored in large bags, their bullets make holes in these bags and the powder comes out of these holes. The sound created by the gunpowder adds to the tension in the scene and works as a beautiful background to Vicky Kaushal killing this terrorist.

One part which does not work for this movie is the handling of its Pakistani characters. Unlike Raazi which we saw in 2018, here the Pakistanis cannot shoot on target and some even believe that India will never retaliate to anything Pakistan does they will simply ban Pakistani actors and musicians in India. There is a distinct black and white in this movie there is no space for morals or grey characters. Another thing that didn’t work was the super long backstory for Vicky Kaushal- mother with alzheimers, personal tragedy there were too many things his character was going through and avenging.

Watch the movie to understand what happened during the attacks and how the nation responded. The movie will make you proud of the country and make you proud to be an Indian. It will also make you feel insignificant and rather selfish for spending most of your days never even thinking about the soldiers dying on the borders to keep you safe. Watch the movie to a see a Bollywood movie with extraordinary action sequences and a showcase of real technology and military prowess. Most importantly, watch the movie for Aditya Dhar and Vicky Kaushal who truly have created a work of art although a little jingoistic.