Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; January 11, 2020)

Last year, Uri: The Surgical Strike released in the theatres on January 11. The film bagged many popular awards and also won four National Awards. Celebrating the first anniversary of its release, and marking the start of their next project, Ashwatthama, the film’s team — producer Ronnie Screwvala, director Aditya Dhar and actors Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam chat with BT about how the film impacted their lives and their plans ahead. Excerpts:

Today, a year after the release of Uri: The Surgical Strike, how’s the josh?
Aditya: Very high! (laughs with the rest of the team!)
Yami: We had our first screening on January 9, 2019. After the Delhi promotions, we landed in Mumbai for it. We had booked five screens and were surprised to see that they were all packed, and more people were waiting. So, we had to book two more shows. Also, the film changed so much for me. Uri gave me that chance to display the depth that I can bring to a character.
Ronnie: I had the highest level of confidence among all of us because I sort of knew where we were headed with this, and a year later, the josh is even higher. The response to this film was tremendous, and war films have a different definition now. Uri impacted people and inspired many youngsters to join the Armed Forces. That is where a movie gets out of the skin of being a mere film.
Vicky: I had seen the film during the edit, but I didn’t know if I liked it because I was in it, or because it had those sentiments. I always asked Aditya, ‘Yaar, log dekhne toh aayenge na?’ I hoped they would come, the rest depended on destiny. We were not prepared for the overwhelming response that Uri got. People just took the film home.

Aditya, you had mentioned that the film faced hurdles, including budget issues. Today, it has bagged many awards, including four National Awards. Have all the struggles been worth it?
Ronnie: That was just to keep everyone on their toes. With our next, Ashwatthama, they will have to dig their heels in and no puns intended here. Yes, Uri was an ambitious project and the team came around incredibly well. Passion overtook everything else.
Aditya: The pressure from Ronnie made us think of ingenious things that we would not have thought about otherwise. It taught me to make things look grand in a tight budget. We prepared a book with pictures of how a scene would look, and we made extensive and detailed storyboards. That knowledge will come in handy now, when we start working on Ashwatthama.

While Aditya was making his debut as a director with the film, Ronnie, you were returning to the film business after a seven-year hiatus. Would you say the risk paid off?
Aditya: I don’t think anyone can ask for a better debut than this. The response to the film made me understand that I have immense responsibility on my shoulders. Uri has given me the confidence to attempt a challenging project like Ashwatthama.
Ronnie: I had stepped out of media for seven years and this was a comeback of sorts. If you stick to your convictions, you will get around fine. It was life-changing to get the reaffirmation from the public we cater to. Uri was a precursor to something bigger that we have been planning.

After Uri, the three of you (Vicky, Aditya and Ronnie) are collaborating on another ambitious project, Ashwatthama. Are you ready for the challenge?
Vicky: As an actor, if the script affects me, I plunge into it and give it my best. What a film can do for my career is not in my hands. Uri was a good film, and so people felt that I could shoulder a movie on my own. This happens when a film hits a home run. I’m very excited to start work on Ashwatthama. It’s a great script and it’s scaring me in a good way.
Aditya: We start the pre-production on our ambitious superhero film Ashwathtama today. We’ve taken an Indian story and are attempting to give it a global appeal, so that people around the world can enjoy it. It’s more than a straight-jacketed superhero outing. It takes a leaf out of Ashwatthama’s character from Mahabharat. We will start shooting in 2021.
Ronnie: Launching a satellite may seem possible by just pressing a button after the countdown. However, the real effort goes into creating the platform, rocket and mechanism, so that it can reach its destination. That takes time and a lot of meticulous planning. That’s how we see Ashwatthama shaping up and that’s the reason it will roll out only when the groundwork is completely done.