What was filmmaker Aditya Dhar’s promise to Vicky Kaushal after Masaan?

Filmmaker Aditya Dhar is on cloud nine, and deservedly so. His directorial debut, Uri: The Surgical Strike, has crossed the ₹200 crore mark, and continues its glorious streak in theatres. “From where I am standing right now, it feels beautiful. The journey was difficult for a few reasons. One being that I was a first-time filmmaker trying to make a war film on a very limited budget. Secondly, the film was supposed to represent the Indian Army, so there was this added pressure that everything is shown in the right way. I have an incredible team which backs me to the hilt and that’s how this film was made,” he says.

The film’s dialogues also caught on with the audience, especially the call, ‘How’s the josh?’ Did he anticipate that it would become the slogan for the people? He says, “Not at all. We knew that we are making a special and important film, but we never thought that it would create such euphoria, and get so much love and respect. We never thought in our wildest dreams that it would become the ‘it’ line for our generation.”

Uri not only evoked myriad emotions in audiences, but it also established actor Vicky Kaushal as someone who could shoulder a film and lead it to success. “I have known Vicky since he did Masaan (2015). I got his number from a common friend, called him and said, ‘I loved your performance aur ek din life mein tere saath film zaroor banaoonga.’ Little did I know that it would be my first film. He is one of the most amazing actors and such a beautiful soul,” he says.

And it was not just the lead actors that were appreciated; comparatively smaller yet impactful characters written for actors Yami Gautam and Kirti Kulhari were very well received, too. “Those parts for me were more important than other parts.

The entire film we are talking about ‘Yeh naya Hindustan hai. Yeh ghar mein ghusega bhi aur maarega bhi.’ It’s because these women are there to protect us, save us and to take care of us. The idea was to represent what is happening in this India right now in the best way possible. And that had to have great female characters, then only you can justify that line,” he signs off.

Aditya Dhar made his directorial debut with Uri: The Surgical Strike this year