‘Uri: the Surgical Strike’ review: This surgical strike fails to impress

After a few months of the videos that appeared on social media of our soldiers living in pathetic conditions, comes a film which eulogises a secret army operation — this new India is now teeming with such unfortunate ironies.

‘Ye naya Hindustan hai, chup nahi baithega, ghar me ghusega bhi aur marega bhi…’ though the film says that one is left wondering which new India are we talking about here? The larger than life portrayal of surgical strike leaves one wondering….about new India. In this India we are in fact entering more into our neighbour's houses and lynching them to death, instead of entering our enemy's house!

Why should a film be made glorifying a secret army operation is another question that haunts. That operation after all was a ‘secret’! Yes, a film about the life in army will of course be interesting. But Uri comes across as slow and boring, though unfortunately, it has good actors. Vicky Kaushal is an excellent actor but an entire film can't succeed on one actor's shoulder. Since there is not much of a story, the film runs like a glamorised documentary. The characters, story and plot are insignificant. To make it interesting, the director tries to tell the story of Major Vihan Shergil’s vengeance. But even that doesn’t make it interesting.

Only the enactment of real life characters seems interesting and a lot of effort has been put in to make them look closer to real life.

The secret agents forcefully drawing information from a Pak official is funny and unbelievable. It seems the entire episode has been put in to bring in a little drama in an otherwise very drab non-story.

The director has tried his level best to picturise the combat scenes in a very authentic manner, which is praise worthy but there's so much of it that you lose interest half way.

If we are trying to make over patriotic movies like Hollywood, we must not forget that they have given some immortal anti-war, pro human films like Hurt Locker, A Few Good Men, Good Morning Vietnam and many more.

Swarup Sampat is a marvellous actor and leaves an imprint even in a cameo. Wonder why she doesn't do more films. Debutant Mohit Rana has an amazing screen presence. He should choose his roles and films carefully.

The portrayal of PM Modi, NSA chief Ajit Doval and former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is very close to real life appearances and you can at once recognise them though their names have been changed.

Rakesh Bedi as Pakistan's intelligence officer, as expected, has been projected in a comic manner. Only one song ‘Mein lad jana …’ catches your attention.

Projecting real life characters and events in films only reflects an intense desire to glorify the present in the face of history. It's interesting to note how this has become a fashion in the film industry especially when history and mythology have been constantly intermixed, contorted and misquoted.

Now that we have been having films on secret army operations (Parmanu too was based on a secret mission), can we expect a film about the increasing number of suicides in Indian army? That after all is also a part of new India and army!!