Uri: The Surgical Strike - An intense action drama



Making a film about a crucial, covert operation involving the armed forces can be a tricky affair. It’s easy to get carried away and rile up emotions in the name of patriotism. Uri: The Surgical Strike avoids doing exactly that and that is what works for the film. It’s a slick action drama that sticks to the plot of the 2016 surgical strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and has the viewers invested in the secrecy surrounding the attacks.

Vicky Kaushal leads the strikes after his brother-in-law dies in a terrorist attack from perpetrators from across the border. There’s an emotional family drama prior to this that does hold up the pace of the story, but once the focus shifts to the action and planning, you can’t take your eyes off screen. One automatically roots for the soldiers who carry out a daring operation in the middle of the night and return with zero casualties.

The wonderfully-shot action sequences, especially in the second half, add to the adrenaline rush as the intense drama unfolds on screen. Uri steers clear of resorting to Bollywood clichés like an unnecessary romance between Kaushal and the female characters or high-octane dialogues to merely elicit applause from moviegoers. The script moves seamlessly from the pre-attacks scenario to depict the strategy and surgical strikes. The ‘eagle drone’ aspect is embedded well. Some characters and scenes, though, could have been fleshed out better.

Apart from a tight screenplay and able direction from debutant Aditya Dhar, the film also has competent performances from its supporting cast like Mohit Raina, Paresh Rawal and Rajat Bedi. It is, however, Kaushal’s act that is the standout performance of the film. The actor is equally comfortable in the emotional and action scenes, and brings to the fore the vulnerabilities and highs of being an army officer.

Uri is not a nationalistic film. It is good cinema that will attract people to the theatres. It’s a gripping affair that is bound to give you goosebumps.

- Kunal Purandare 


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