Time to act against Pakistan is now, says URI director Aditya Dhar

Uri, the record-breaking war film that names, shames, blames and attacks Pakistan as the rogue country perpetrating terror attacks in India, has obtained a renewed box-office life after the Pulwama attack. Collections have again swerved upwards all over the country.

The sequence in Uri where bodies of martyred soldiers are sent to their families touches a raw nerve in the collective consciousness of all Indians. “I’ve personally known families of martyred soldiers. When their bodies are brought back, I’ve seen the grief. It is indescribable. People making insensitive comments on social media have never experienced that hurt and grief. It’s time the government makes one-year of army life mandatory for every male child in India.

This is the only way we can sensitise every Indian to the discipline and sacrifice that army life entails,” says Director Aditya Dhar.

Explaining the phenomena, Uri director Aditya Dhar says, “Indians are very angry. They are not going to take this latest carnage killing so many of our soldiers quietly. I think Uri reflects that anger. Indians have found a voice of protest in that film which doesn’t shy away from naming Pakistan as the enemy. It’s time we stop pretending that all is well on the non-political level. How can we invite Pakistani actors and singers to our cinema when not even one of them has condemned the Pulwama attack.”

Aditya feels war is the only solution. “We have to let them know we are not a weak nation. If every time they attack us and we forgive and move on, then this cycle of terror attacks never stops. We have to teach them a lesson.”

Aditya says both he and his Uri leading man Vicky Kaushal have taken the Pulwama attack very personally. “Vicky and I were together when the news of the Pulwama losses came in. We felt as if it was a personal blow as if we lost people very close to us. Unless we take this attack personally, how can we ever rectify the situation? Instead of making idiotic insensitive comments, our politicians should campaign for strong retaliatory action against Pakistan.”

Aditya says he would consider making a film on the Pulwama attack. “Not now though. The wounds are too raw. Maybe a few years from now when we can have some objective perspective on the issue. At the moment, we as a nation are wounded and angry.”