Uri: The Surgical Strike director Aditya Dhar reveals 'how's the josh?' comes from a childhood memory

Uri: The Surgical Strike director Aditya Dhar says its popular dialogue ‘how’s the josh?’, which has been invoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers, comes from a childhood memory. 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 features Vicky Kaushal in the lead role. [caption id=“attachment_6028781” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Vicky Kaushal in Uri: The Surgical Strike. Image via Twitter/@Sohanbir5[/caption] Recalling the story behind the catch-phrase, Aditya told Press Trust of India, “I had some friends from defence background, so with them I used to go to a lot of Army clubs. There was one in Delhi where we used to go for Christmas or New Year parties. There used to be a retired Brigadier who would line up all the kids in front of him and have a chocolate in his hand. He would say ‘How’s the josh?’ and we were to respond with ‘high sir!’ The kid who was the loudest got the chocolate. Being a foodie, I used to be the loudest and always got the chocolate”. The phrase has acquired a life of its own, something that the director had never anticipated. “I have heard very few Army people use the phrase. It is not something which is used extensively. What I did was I used the line in the right way in the film and now it has taken off to another level.” When Aditya sat down to pen Uri: The Surgical Strike, he knew he had to include the line. “The line was there right from the first draft. As a writer, we write according to our personal experiences, our memories. It is an amalgamation of everything. I had the line with me in my memory and this was the perfect film for it to come out.” The film, which released on 11 January, has emerged as a huge blockbuster, still running to packed houses and all set to enter the Rs 200-crore club. For the first-time filmmaker, Aditya says the response has been “magical, beautiful” and the magnitude of love coming the film’s way was something the team never anticipated.