Uri: The Surgical Strike(2019)

2h 18m

Release Date: Jan 11, 2019 | Limited

Indian army special forces execute a covert operation, avenging the killing of fellow army men at their base by a terrorist group.

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Releases

Original Release | Jan 11, 2019

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$631,146
Total US & Canada:
$4,186,168
Total International
$35,160,409
Total Worldwide:
$39,346,577

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Director & Top Cast

Aditya Dhar
Director

Aditya Dhar

Gallery

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: India

Language: Hindi

Summaries

Plot Summary

The Seven Sisters (North-east India): An ambush takes place in June 2015 on the convoy of the Indian Army troops in Chandel, Manipur by NSCN(K) militants. The militants stop the convoy by deploying nails on the dirt road in the jungle. Once the convoy is halted, militant open indiscriminate fire and before escaping into the jungle they explode an IED under the lead vehicle carrying the maximum number of troops. In retaliation, Major Vihaan Singh Shergill (Vicky Kaushal), a Para SF officer and his unit, including his brother-in-law, Major Karan Kashyap (Mohit Raina), infiltrate and attack the Northeastern militants and also kill the key leader responsible for the ambush. Commandos include Captain Sartaj Singh Chandok (Dhairya Karwa), Vikram Dabas (Padam Bhola), K. S. Venkatesh (Anurag Mishra) and others. Vihaan is an NDA topper and the son of Col. Meher Shergill who was martyred in the Kargil war at Tololing and was awarded the Mahavir Chakra.After a successful strike, the Prime Minister of India (Rajit Kapur) congratulates him and the whole unit at a formal dinner. Due to the strike led by Vihaan all other militant groups in NE have sued for peace. Vihaan requests an early retirement as he wants to be close with his mother, who is suffering from Stage VI Alzheimer's, on which the Prime Minister offers him a desk job at New Delhi near his mother Suhasini (Swaroop Sampat) instead of retirement, to which he agrees. The PM also orders a 24-hour nurse to care for Vihaan's mother.An Unsettling Peace (New Delhi, India): Vihaan takes a desk job at the Integrated Defense Staff HQ in New Delhi and him spending time with his family. A nurse named Jasmine D'Almeida (Yami Gautam) is assigned to take care of Suhasini. Vihaan meets an Indian Air Force pilot named Flight Lieutenant Seerat Kaur (Kirti Kulhari), who is trying to prove her patriotism to her martyred husband, who was an army officer who died in an ambush. Seerat had flown rescue sorties in the J&K floods a few years earlier. She defied orders to flow a sortie in the night, in the middle of a storm to rescue a woman and her daughter stuck on the roof of their house. As such, she was grounded, and her case is under investigation.Vihaan's unit misses him as his mission planning used to be flawless. The Pathankot attack takes place during this period on 2nd Jan 2016. As usual, Pakistan deflects the blame for the attack and instead demands proof from India. NSA Govind briefs the PM that the terrorists entered the country crossing the river and attacked a Punjab Roadways bus. 8-10 army soldiers are killed in the attack.On 25th June 2016, the terrorists attack an ADI building in Pampore in J&K. Govind is under increasing pressure due to his inability to stop the attacks.One day, Suhasini goes missing. He searches for her, and blames Jasmine for her ignorance, stating that there is no need for her security. Vihaan's mother is found under a bridge (as Jasmine had put GPS tags on her clothes to track her every move), and Jasmine reveals herself as an intelligence agent. The families of the special force's soldiers were given security due to the threat from the North-eastern terrorists.Bleed India with Thousand Cuts (Uri, Jammu Kashmir, India): On 18 September 2016, four heavily armed militants attack the brigade headquarters at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir at dawn, killing 19 soldiers in their sleep. The terrorists are killed, but Karan dies in a grenade explosion due to accidentally pulling the pin attached to the terrorist's rifle, which he picked up to examine.The whole family becomes devastated, including Vihaan. The Ministry led by Defence Minister of India Ravinder Agnihotri (Yogesh Soman) decides to take strict action against the perpetrators of the attack. The PM is not worried about the US or UN opinion and wants to respond to Pakistan in the same language that they understand. He knows that if the attack is unanswered, it will shatter the morale of the Indian Armed Forces. Options range from outright war to stopping the water under the Indus Water Treaty. National Security Advisor Govind Bharadwaj (Paresh Rawal) suggests the idea of a surgical strike. Govind says that Pakistan has always taken advantage of India's no first strike policy. The surgical strike will instill fear in Pakistan that attack on India will carry a cost. The Prime Minister gives it a go and gives ten days for the strike. Sartaj informs Vihaan about an operation being planned in J&K to respond to the Uri attack.Vihaan leaves his desk job and leaves for Northern Command base in Udhampur. He requests Chief of the Army Staff General Arjun Singh Rajawat (Shishir Sharma) to count him in the operation to which he agrees. Vihaan chooses the elite Ghatak Force commandos from the Bihar Regiment, and the Dogra Regiment along with the special forces as most of the soldiers killed in the attack were from these regiments.Vihaan informs them that they can no longer use their phones and disguises the mission as regular training exercises. The commandos begin their training.Jasmine / Pallavi Sharma is tapping the phone of Senior Pakistani ISI officer (Rakesh Bedi) and in one of the calls, she gets the coordinates of 6 launchpads across the LoC.Naya Hindustan (New India) (New Delhi, India): During the planning, Govind ropes in ISRO (for providing satellite images), DRDO (for drone surveillance), and RAW (for intelligence). Pallavi analyses the satellite feeds and says that distinguishing terror launchpads from civilian homes is difficult without a closeup picture. Govind goes to meet the DRDO Chief Brian D'Souza (Ivan Rodrigues), he chances to meet an intern named Ishaan (Akashdeep Arora) who has developed a drone called Garuda which looks and is shaped like an Eagle and can fly really close to the ground without being detected.With the help of the drones and satellite images they can get the exact location of the hideouts and training camps of the terrorists. Jasmine reveals her true name as Pallavi Sharma to Vihaan, and during an interrogation, the two extract information about who planned the attack. They determine that Idris Khan (Abrar Zahoor) was the planner and Jabbar Firozi (Sunil Palwal) was the handler for the Uri attack. The terrorists came from the Chakothi village in Muzaffarabad in PoK. Idris and Jabbar are Jaish terrorists and met 7 years earlier in a training camp. They infiltrate their terrorists into Indian territories via natural cave formations that go under the borders.Vihaan chooses Seerat to be his pilot, who agrees wholeheartedly. Govind also suggests intensifying the artillery shelling at the border for distraction and painting their assault helicopters with Pakistani Air Force markings. The commandos also start training under Vihaan. The Pakistani officials suspect the Indian activities but dismiss them due to underestimation. Zameer (Anil George) is a Pakistani minister, and part of the inner circle of planning anti-India activities. He is kept under observation by 2 under cover Indian agents operating in Kashmir, Shahid (Ujjwal Chopra) and Aasma (Rukhsar Rehman).Ishaan deploys his drones and confirms the exact location, size and personnel of each of the target terrorist launchpads. 80 commandos are ready to fly in at midnight of the 28th of September to carry out the strikes. 4 Mi-17 Helicopters will carry them across the LoC and the attack will start at 2 am. 2 teams of 20 commandos each will destroy 2 targets each. Vihaan's team is assigned Muzaffarabad. The whole operation is supposed to last 50 minutes at the most.The strike (POK, Pakistan): On the night of 28 September, the commandos leave for the strike in Pakistan occupied Kashmir in Mi-17 helicopters. Shahid and Aasma invite Zameer to dinner. After getting drunk Zameer reveals that ISI knew about Indian helicopter activity and have turned on radars in specific sectors, anticipating Indian adventure across the border. Aasma calls Govind, who relays the information to Vihaan. During the mission, Vihaan's helicopter is forced not to cross the Line of Control due to the latest intelligence from spies in Pakistan that the Pakistani Army has deployed an "AWAC" early warning radar-based surface to air missile system in Muzaffarabad sector to bring their helicopter down.Vihaan and his team improvise by going on foot through a cave (which was very risky due to darkness and the unknown presence of other terrorists on the Pakistani side of the tunnel). His team successfully infiltrate and kill all the terrorists on the two launchpads. Similarly, other commando teams also manage to kill all of the terrorists.Vihaan kills Idris (Abrar Zahoor) and Jabbar (Sunil Palwal), who are the perpetrators of the Uri attack. The local police are alerted, and the commandos who are low on ammunition and time escape. On their way back, they are heavily rained down upon by gunfire from both a nearby machine gun bunker and a Pakistani Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter, which was scrambled to intercept Vihaan's team.Flight Lieutenant Seerat comes to their rescue by firing back at the Pakistani gunship, thus driving it away and eliminating the machine gun bunker. His team successfully crosses the LoC on the Indian side with no casualties.The rest of the assigned teams are also successful and are back with no casualties. Vihaan lands at Hindon Air Force Station at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Vihaan, Pallavi, Govind, and the commandos happily have a formal dinner with the Prime Minister.In a post-credits scene, Zameer (Anil George), a Pakistani minister, wakes up and shouts in frustration while seeing the news of India's successful surgical strike. The scene cuts to a title card reading "Jai Hind".

Storyline

Divided over five chapters, the film chronicles the events of the surgical strike conducted by the Indian military against suspected militants in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. It tells the story of the 11 tumultuous events over which the operation was carried out. Indian army special forces carry out a covert operation to avenge the killing of fellow army men at their base by a terrorist group. — Santhosh