“I Am Not Making Uri 2” says Director

Cutting down  all  loose talk about  making a  quick sequel to Uri, director Aditya Dhar says he is done with URI and  the genre  for  the time being.

“A story needed  to be told. It’s  the story of  the exemplary  courage that was shown by our soldiers on the  border in 2016.I’ve told what I had to .The last thing I  need  from myself is  to repeat  the same story  just because  it’s successful,” says Aditya.

No  war  film but a  totally different genre for Aditya Dhar next.

Revealing  some details of his  next project Aditya says, “It will be a completely different world from the one in  Uri. But still in the real space, Yes, it is  again based on  a true-life event. And that’s all I can tell you. And  of course I can  also tell you that  my next film  too will be produced  by Ronnie Scewvala’s RSVP production house. The way  Ronnie, and for that matter Vicky Kaushal, stood by Uri and  believed in it, I’d  be foolish  to change my priorities.”

A  major reason why Aditya opted to make  a war film was  the  degeneration  of  the war genre in Hindi cinema. “There was a  time when really worthy war films were made in Hindi. Then in the new millennium  the war genre  was being subjected  to some  very bizarre  treatment. I felt the need of the hour was  an honest war film that didn’t  indulge  in  unnecessary hate-mongering and  cheap jingoism.”

Uri was made  at  a cost  of Rs 25  crores and has already made profits  of over Rs 200  crores. Aditya  would now have  access to unlimited budgets. But he isn’t  looking at splurging  on  production costs. “We worked under  extremely  tight budgetary circumstances  in Uri ,and that  was  good. Because  it kept us constantly on our toes,  forever anxious.  I  think anxiety  is  a  big impetus  to productivity and  creativity.I fear  unlimited budgets  would make  me lazy as a filmmaker.I’d rather work within controlled budgets.My aim as a filmmaker is to make  a film look large,  far more  spectacular  than the  budget would suggest. I’d like to  spend 30 crores. But it should  look like  a 150-crore  film.”

Interestingly  Uri has also  performed   exceptionally well outside India. In  the posh   AMC multiplex chain in the US  , URI has outperformed all the other  big blockbusters of Hollywood during the past one year.

“What  can  I say?” Aditya is  delighted.  “Indians  abroad are as as committed  to the spirit  of  nationalism as  those of us  here  in India.”

There are talks of Aditya Dhar and his producers  registering and copyrighting the title ‘How High Is The Josh’, the catchphrase from the  blockbuster war film Uri.

But  Aditya completely shoots down any such proprietorial  moves.  “That  phrase which  has caught on  in such  a big way doesn’t belong to me. It is used  quite extensively  in  the army to motivate the soldiers. I only plucked  it out of its habitat and replanted  it in a space where it was  accessible to  civilians.I’m glad  everyone from the  Prime Minister  to gym instructors  are using it to motivate  an improvement in the country’s  performance. I have no  intention of  patenting  the phrase.  Josh toh sab ko anee chahiye.”