Director Aditya Dhar said that the intention of his directorial debut “Uri: The Surgical Strike” is not to show Pakistan in the bad light but to focus on the issue of terrorism.
The film is based on the 2016 Indian Army’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan as a retaliation for the Uri attack that claimed the lives of 17 army personnel.
“The film is about how Indian Army fought terrorism. Our focus in the film is about how to fight against terrorism. There is nothing anti-Pakistan. We are not fighting against any individual or country, we are fighting against the cross-border terrorism that is happening. We have shown a balanced perspective,” Aditya told an agency.
Despite a ban on Indian films in the neighbouring country, the director said that he would have loved to show his movie in Pakistan.
“Any sane or logical person be it Indian or Pakistani will understand that the film is about fighting terrorism.”
Aditya said that his debut film “Raabta” was set to feature Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead but Khan had to exit the project after Pakistani artistes were banned from working in India in the aftermath of the Uri attacks.
“I was figuring out how to recast for the film and who to approach. But within 10 days surgical strikes happened.”
The retaliation by the Indian side piqued his interest and Aditya said he started to research about the surgical strikes and its planning process.
Also starring Paresh Rawal, Yami Gautam and Mohit Raina, the film is set to be released on January 11.
 
