Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina and Kirti Kulhari

Director: Aditya Dhar

Rating: ***1/2

Army stories have always been fascinating and when you hear a war cry on screen, it will surely stay in your mind for a long time.

URI: The Surgical Strike is a film about the Indian army and its valour, with "Surgical Strike" being the center point of the film. We all know about the history of URI, where four terrorists attacked the Indian Army base camp and 19 Indian soldiers were martyred. It was reported as "the deadliest attack" on security forces in Kashmir.

The film starts with a Maoist attack on Indian army and the Indian army's successful attack on Maoist hideouts on Indo-Myanmar border, which was led by Major Vihaan Singh Shergill (Vicky Kaushal) and assisted by Major Karan Kashyap (Mohit Raina), who is also Vihaan's brother-in-law.

Vihaan wants to take voluntary retirement from the force to be with his ailing mother (Swaroop Sampat) but his seniors have a different plan and he is transferred to Delhi for a desk job.

When Vihaan's brother-in-law Karan is killed in Uri attack, Vihaan channels his personal loss to seek revenge on behalf of the country.

There is no point talking about the story or script as we all are already familiar with the story and backdrop of this film.

So let's start with the performances straightway, Vicky Kaushal as Major Vihan Singh Shergill is the soul of the film, who has carried the whole film on his shoulders. The way Vicky has prepared himself for the character is commendable. A soldier who can lay his life for the nation and a son who wants to be with his ailing mother, Vicky has done a great job.


Yami Gautam as Raw agent is brilliant on her part.

Though Mohit Raina's character was short he has a strong screen presence and his acting skills cannot be doubted.

Paresh Rawal as Govind, National Security Advisor is the real mastermind of this surgical strike, who makes plans and gives directions to the army.

Kirti Kulhari as young Indian Air Force pilot has also done justice to her character though she had a very short screen presence, she is good.

Rajit Kapur as Prime Minister is convincing and satisfactory.

Director Aditya Dhar has very efficiently used all the actors and brought best out of them. The locations and the gunfire exchanges are perhaps the best we've seen in Indian war movies.


The sound-design and background score to capture the pain of lost human lives without bleeding out a banshee of road signs for our emotional responses.

The film has been shot with astounding finesse by cinematographer Mitesh Mirchandani. Every frame is a thoughtful recreation of the moment in time when in 2016, Indian soldiers pushed their way into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to seek revenge.

URI introduces us the new age technology and war gears used by our soldiers. The drone technology, night vision goggles, and low flying choppers, URI has everything what war film should have. Then there is some drama as well when our soldiers do hand to hand combat with enemies.

Overall, URI: The Surgical Strike is full of patriotism and it has mass appeal and will surely get lots of appreciation from the audience. The film will keep you on the edge of the seat despite the fact that there are no surprises in the film. It could be better if the director has made it less dramatic and more action.