Uri: The Surgical Strike
U/A: Action, Drama
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, Paresh Rawal
Director: Aditya Dhar
Rating: 

Like with several others, you may not find a single bloodthirsty, jingoistic-militaristic bone in my body. And yet, there's a scene in this film, focused on a little girl, whose father, an officer, has just died in the recent attacks on the Army base in Uri. She walks up to the casket, surrounded by soldiers in attention, at his state funeral.

The moment freezes for a second. The little child, rather unexpectedly, exults the regiment's war cry. Soldiers instantly respond. Emotions naturally heighten. It's hard not to feel a lump in your throat.

This is the sort of visceral 'josh' that the film organically excites, which makes it work, almost through and through. And yet, for a movie wholly centred on a mission and the military, it is a rare desi one—Sankalp Reddy's under-rated The Ghazi Attack (2017), being another recent exception—that never meanders from the actual minefield: Not a minute wasted on sundry peripherals, songs, love-story, and the like, that most Hindi war films (Border, LOC Kargil, Lakshya included) have had to resort to, in order to fit into a more mainstream, Bollywood format.

But, first, let's settle the apprehension that many might rightly share: Is this a propaganda picture? In so much as it places to the extreme fore the might and valour of unsung heroes of Indian Army, who risk their lives in covert operations, details of which, for reasons of state secrecy, go unreported? Sure. And that's pretty much true for all patriotic, war movies, regardless.

But, no: Is it a propaganda film for the BJP government, few months before the general elections, seeking credit for a military operation initiated/executed under its watch? Well, the magnanimous Prime Minister modeled on Narendra Modi (Rajit Kapur) is very much omnipresent. Which, going by trailers and posters of late, he's likely to be, on the big screen, over the following months, with several films based on/around him—bit like a super-hero from the Marvel/DC universe!

The PM is well represented along with his cabinet, given lookalikes of Parrikar, Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, and the hand-picked National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, played by BJP MP Paresh Rawal, as a shrewd, sharp sleuth, right at the centre of the high-table, leading the military operation from a snazzy war-room.

Check out the trailer here:

Whether this story "based on true events," liberally mixing fact with fiction, has been actively sponsored by the government or not; can tell you this, they will like what they see. Folk on the Pakistani side though come across as total 'phateechars', ever willing to sell their soul and their nation's secrets. Either way, what the endorsement from the Indian Army (its publicity wing is prominently credited) evidently earns for the pic is incredible access to top-notch military hardware, hitherto unseen in the history of Hindi films.

Supremely competent first-time director Aditya Dhar uses these weapons—sophisticated machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, top-grade fighter aircraft—to hit home with a winning plot, over two hours, 10 minutes of stunningly shot (Mitesh Mirchandani), non-stop, military-action drama, packed with pyrotechnics that appear authentic, world-class, technically kickass.

Background score (Shashwat Sachdev) is pitch-perfect. Some of the combat sequences (Stefan Richter) are sensational. Sparks fly, quite literally; even as sentiments are firmly in place, to keep you engaged with the characters, and their emotional motivations.

Yeah, it's hard to evoke both. No better actor to lead this charge than the fully fired-up Vicky Kaushal (Raazi, Sanju, Love Per Square Foot, Manmarziyaan, Lust Stories)—bulked up like a sniper, menacingly calm as a military mind—inspiring his peers (Yami Gautam, Kriti Kulhari etc) in the film, and patrons in the theatre, with an infectious energy that is impossible to resist. Kaushal's had a phenomenal 2018. Clearly, the dream run continues.

The film is primarily set in 2016. The basic premise is known. It concerns a top-secret, low-intensity, shock-and-awe assault, or a surgical strike, on hideouts in Pak-occupied Kashmir, responsible for terror attacks across the border—more specifically, by four militants, allegedly of the group Jaish-e-Mohammed, on the Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control, less than a fortnight before.

Very little—next to nothing—is known about these 'surgical strikes'. How does this revenge operation pan out in the picture, then? Given multiple Abbottabads being mounted, a lot like a desi Zero Dark Thirty (2012)—Katherine Bigelow's brilliant docu-drama detailing capture of Osama bin Laden. As compliments go, that's as huge as it gets. No?

Also Read: Watch video: Vicky Kaushal gives us a sneak peek into his prep for Uri

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Anushka Sharma turns 32 today and the successful superstar and entrepreneur opened up about how she believed in herself right from when she started out as a model at a super young age of 15!

Her rise and rise in Bollywood is an inspiration to many given she made a huge mark in the industry despite being a total outsider with no industry connections! "Perseverance comes naturally to me. It's not something that you have to be hard on yourself for, it leads you. Honestly, life leads you! I can vouch for it! Life has lead me to where I am you know. Sometimes, you just put your head down and follow the road life takes you on," says Anushka.

The superstar, who is also the youngest woman producer of Bollywood having started Clean Slate Films when she was just 25, considers her father Colonel Ajay Kumar Sharma to be her greatest teacher. "I went to Army Public School in Bangalore and I have had some really good teachers there and I was very close to them and they have had a very lasting impression in my mind and my principal also. But my dad taught me some invaluable lessons," she says.

Anushka says, "He would drop me to school and he would have these conversations with me because the journey was little bit long. He would just tell me one thing and it has had such a lasting impression in my mind and in my personality and the way I deal with challenges in life. It's really been extremely special. The thing that he told me was no matter what situation you are in, no matter how bad the situation is, always do the right thing and pray to god that you know what is the right thing to do is at that moment."

The actress adds, "I think that's something that stuck with me cause I was so young and I really look up to my father. He is a very wise man and he has had a huge impression on my life. So, when he said that to me it really stuck with me."

Anushka says this advice helped her when she started out as a model at a very young age! "I started working when I was so young. It was important for me to know all this because at the age of 14-15, when you are taking decisions for yourself and your career, it's really hard. That's what's gave me clarity. That's what I did and I think that's something that has always stood out for me," she says.

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Actor Aasif Shaikh can give a comical twist to any scene because, as he says, comedy comes naturally to him. "Comedy comes naturally to me. Even if there is a serious scene with some hard-hitting dialogues, I can perform it in the most comical way," said the actor, who has a theatre background and years of experience in the entertainment industry.

He points out comedy is a very specialised genre. "It is very interesting and at the same time challenging as you have to keep updating your acts, so that they do not appear monotonous. I have been playing the role of Vibhuti in &TV's 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain' for five years and I keep on experimenting with my looks, dialogues, etc. to engage with the audience. This is how I raise the bar for myself," he shared.

Aasif follows international comedians and trends on social media to keep himself updated.

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Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived late Tuesday night and will stay overnight before leaving for Akluj in Solapur district, where he will address an election rally on Wednesday. Modi arrived at the Lohegaon airport were BJP leaders, including the party's Lok Sabha candidate from the city Girish Bapat, sitting MP Anil Shirole and Pune city BJP president Yogesh Gogawale received him.

According to BJP leaders, the PM will stay overnight at Raj Bhavan in Pune and leave for Akluj to address an election rally in the Madha Lok Sabha constituency of Solapur district Wednesday.

Raj Thackeray hits out at Narendra Modi, Amit Shah at poll rally
MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Monday appealed to people to ensure "disappearance" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah from the political scene of the country for spreading "lies" and "causing" communal disharmony.

Addressing a poll rally in Solapur district of Maharashtra, he called the prime minister "shameless" for seeking votes in the name of jawans without acknowledging their sacrifice. In controversial remarks, he asked the people gathered at the rally to accept money if offered to them by those who are "looting" the country.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is not contesting the Lok Sabha elections, but Thackeray has been addressing rallies in support of Congress-NCP-led alliance candidates, who are pitted against the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. "I am here to wake all of you up against the tactics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. "The kind of lies they have spread and caused communal disharmony, you should ensure they both get disappeared from the political horizons of this country," he said.

In a veiled attack on the Shiv Sena, he said, "Those who are helping Modi-Shah should also not be spared. You should not vote for those who help Modi-Shah stay in power." Thackeray, however, did not mention the Shiv Sena, his former party, or any of its leaders in his speech. After showing a video of Modi, where he purportedly claims a trader takes more risk than a jawan, Thackeray said, "The prime minister seeks votes from people in the name of jawans, but makes such remarks about their sacrifice. I have so far not seen a more "shameless" prime minister than him."

"They are trying to fool you by raising non-issues ahead of elections. If they distribute money, accept it. This is the right time to loot them. "You cannot imagine the way our country is being looted by these people, but accept their money and do not look back," Thackeray said.

He claimed Modi and Shah are pushing the country on path of authoritarianism like the current regime in Russia where power is concentrated in the hands of 7-8 people. Thackeray also exposed the Maharashtra government's claim of a village in Amravati district - Harisal - being the first digital village in the country.

However, a video procured by MNS workers shows no digital services such as Internet connection and card swapping for financial transaction, among others, are operational in the village, he said. "What Adolf Hitler did to Germany in 1930s is going to be replicated in India if Modi and Shah return to power," Thackeray warned. Solapur will vote on April 18

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Asian stock markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.6% while the Hang Seng is up 0.9%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 1.8%. Wall Street's indices climbed on Thursday, with the Nasdaq erasing losses for 2020, following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports led by PayPal as investors looked past more weak jobs data caused by the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicated a positive opening for the index in India with a 91 points gain.

India share markets opened higher. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 542 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 158 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.9% and 0.6% respectively.

All sectoral indices are trading in green with metal stocks and banking stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

Note that the�coronavirus impact�has shaken markets worldwide. For the�BSE Sensex, FY20 was the second worst year post FY08, the year of the global financial crisis.

Good Time to Start Investing Now?

Naturally, there is an atmosphere of fear all round.

Is it time to sell stocks now? Will the correction get worse?

History has shown that after years like the one we had just now, the next 3 years are good for the markets. In fact, these corrections are the rare times when you find businesses with solid fundamentals at reasonable valuations.

If you can�find good businesses�that can survive the current crisis, you will do well in the long run.

Moving on, the rupee is currently trading at 75.57 against the�US$.

Gold prices are currently trading up 1.7% at Rs 46,161.

Gold prices in India edged lower in yesterday's trade though it remained in a narrow range.

On MCX, June gold futures fell about Rs 30 to Rs 45,340 per 10 gram, extending losses to the third day.

Gold prices had fallen about Rs 426 per 10 gram in the previous session. Silver futures also gave up early gains and were down 0.1% to 41,803 per kg.

In global markets, gold prices edge higher today after a sharp fall in the previous session.

Spot gold climbed 0.3% to US$1,690.19 per ounce, after a 1% fall in the previous session. Despite bleak economic data, the dollar's strength is weighing on gold.

The US dollar today touched a more than one-week high against a basket of major currencies. Besides firmer dollar, some bullion refineries restarted have production, easing supply-side concerns.

Moving on to mutual funds sector. Investors pumped Rs 837.8 billion in equity-oriented mutual fund (MF) schemes in FY20, registering a decline of 25% from the Rs 1.11-trillion inflows in the preceding year.

However, this was the sixth successive year of net inflows in equity mutual funds, according to data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

The flows into equity funds in the last fiscal were lower than the flows in 2018-19 primarily because of the equity markets displaying volatility, which made some investors take a break from making fresh equity investments.

Net inflows in these funds were Rs 1.7 trillion in FY18, Rs 703.7 billion in FY17, Rs 740.2 billion in FY16, and Rs 710.3 billion in FY15. However, they had witnessed a net outflow of Rs 92.7 billion in FY14.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent�share market updates here.

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Fresh off of a large round of layoffs, Lyft reported its Q1 results this afternoon. The ride-hailing company disclosed that it generated revenue of $955.7 million in the first three months of 2020, up 23% from its year-ago Q1 revenue result of $776 million. The company’s net loss of $398.1 million was also an improvement […]

The former F1 driver, alongside Marc Coma, was driving a Toyota Hilux over a sand dune when he lost control of the car. It flipped twice, landing back on its wheels, but the pair did complete the 10th stage.

Roger Federer has praised Australians for being a 'true inspiration' after the Open's Rally for Relief charity match raised nearly $5million for bushfire victims. 

Yara Shahidi pulled double duty on Saturday when she walked the red carpet at the Kids' Choice Awards soon after speaking at the March For Our Lives rally in Los Angeles. The teen stars on Grown-ish,

Men who die of COVID-19 are losing, on average, 13 years of their lives, while women have 11 years cut off their life expectancy, according to a study carried out by Public Health Scotland.

Sen. Bernie Sanders acknowledged 'you cannot win 'em all' as he congratulated former Vice President Joe Biden on his South Carolina victory Saturday.

Joe Biden, 77, was speaking at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas ahead of Super Tuesday voting today that will decide a third of the Democratic delegates on offer.

One quarter of women surveyed confessed to having at least one beauty secret, while 23 per cent confided that nobody (even their friends) really knows the extent of their beautifying.

Gareth Southgate's England side take on Sweden in Samara on Saturday afternoon with a place in the semi-finals at stake and the excitement levels are at boiling point.

Crowds gathered on the streets and the bridge near Kim Il Sung square amid a heavy police presence in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sunday morning.

Donald Trump began his Las Vegas rally by parading 14 of the Miracle on Ice 1980 Winter Olympics ice hockey team on stage on the eve of the 40th anniversary of their shocking win.

Mr Joyce called abortion 'animalistic' as he joined former prime minister Tony Abbott and a throng of passionate pro-life protesters in Sydney's Hyde Park.

I finally caved and sent David a light, friendly text. We should all be reaching out, shouldn't we?

The fire in the RD DXX Limited Buggy started on the route between Jeddah and Al Wajh, Saudi Arabia, earlier today with French driver Romain Dumas at the helm alongside Alexandre Winocq.

The state's capitol is braced for possible violence at the event, aimed at showing gun enthusiasts' disdain over the Democrat-controlled legislature's promise to toughen gun laws.

Watford, who were 17th at the time of the shutdown due coronavirus, join Aston Villa and Brighton in being concerned at the plan to resume the current campaign at 'neutral' stadiums.

Tyrrell Hatton puts his disappointing season down to a hangover from the highs of the Ryder Cup and a balky putter.

Airtel has been one of the resilient stocks over the last few months even as the AGR issue and Coronavirus-fueled market crash has wiped off lakhs of crores of investor wealth.The Airtel stock could rally thanks to the Jio-Facebook deal and the weakening of Vodafone Idea.The Airtel stock has been given a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of ₹606, which is an upside of more than 20%.Airtel was the market leader before the arrival of Reliance Jio, but it has since ceded its lead position to the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom company. However, the gap between the two leading mobile service providers may be too huge, according to market experts.When it comes to the market cap, though, Airtel is 1.6 times smaller than Jio. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, is 39 times smaller than Jio, which is currently

The 2020 presidential hopeful shouted back, 'This is not a Trump rally,' as he sought to bring order to the event in Milford, New Hampshire, on Sunday night.

Sentiment was bolstered overnight after President Donald Trump promised 'major' steps to combat the virus outbreak and said he would discuss a payroll tax cut with congressional Republicans.

Captain for the day James Milner urged his Liverpool team mates to react quickly in a speech on the pitch before the match against Bournemouth - only to see them fall behind after nine minutes.

James Van Kuilenburg, who is passionate about politics, had attended the presidential campaign event in his hometown of Frederick, Maryland on Thursday.

The Republican candidate capped off a terrible Tuesday, which saw dire performances in five northeastern primaries, when he made a blunder at a rally in Knightstown, Indiana.

Sen. Ted Cruz warned a young man making a disturbance at an Indiana rally yesterday that he would have 'spanked' the youth, who called out to the crowd at Cruz 'you suck.'

Donald Trump called attention to Carly Fiorina's bizarre fall Monday – and faults Ted Cruz for not doing 'anything about it.'

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels who's weighing a 2020 bid, is holding a 'resistance rally' in Texas the same night President Trump will be campaigning for Sen. Ted Cruz.

Avenatti won't bring his anti-Trump rhetoric to Texas on Monday despite his promise last month to 'fight fire with fire' when the president visits Houston.

Both Eric and Lara gave speeches at the Houston rally for Cruz on Monday night. Eric boasted that ISIS no longer exists - despite the Pentagon saying last week it still poses a threat.

The Little Mix star, 27, revealed the nation's shutdown has given her time to embrace her natural locks as she shared a radiant selfie on Instagram on Tuesday.

Around 100 protesters broke through a barricade outside the building shortly after Trump took to the stage, and tried to throw rocks through the window at they set fires on the street outside.

I finally caved and sent David a light, friendly text. We should all be reaching out, shouldn't we?

The former Vice President, 77, reportedly made the gaffe in Des Moines last weekend while responding to a voter who had concern's about his foreign policy decisions.