Vicky Kaushal on Uri: The Surgical Strike, patriotism and how 2018 was a special year for him

2018 was a phenomenal year for Vicky Kaushal.

Vicky rose to prominence in 2018 with spectacular performances in Raazi, Sanju and Manmarziyaan of which two were the highest-grossing Hindi films of the year. He also made a mark in the digital space with Love Per Square Foot and Lust Stories.

Bollywood’s man of the moment begins 2019 with a bang with his portrayal of a war hero in his latest film and his first big solo release, Uri: The Surgical Strike that hits the big screens on 11 January. Based on true events that happened in the town of Uri near Srinagar in September 2016, the film chronicles the valiant efforts of Indian army commandos who carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan-Kashmir, killing 38 terrorists.

Directed by Aditya Dhar, Vicky plays the stoic army official Major Vihaan Shergill who spearheads the high-profile mission. “The biggest takeaway from the film for me was feeling very small as a human being after having lived an army man’s life. Vicky Kaushal is like a small identity. When I heard the stories of real life army men, what they go through every day, our problem feels so small, absolutely nothing. I always thought that it was more important to feel patriotic. But when you have to play an army guy, it is different from how we sit at home and feel patriotic. This is about action,” said Vicky in an exclusive chat with Firstpost from Delhi while on his last leg of promotions for Uri.

Unlike his earlier movies like Masaan, Raman Raghav and even Sanju and Manmarziyaan, where he shared the screen with other parallel leads, in Uri, the spotlight is on Vicky. Does that amount to more pressure? “There is pressure but it is a pressure that I welcome (laughs). I have been working very hard to be at the receiving end of this pressure. Even I want to test my shoulders, let’s see what is in store for me. I want these expectations and I want to live up to the expectations. The industry has been very encouraging. Right after Masaan many doors opened up for me and I felt very fortunate but I never knew that I will ever have a year like 2018,” said Vicky.

Talking about the efforts that went into the making of the film, Vicky said, “We have made the film with complete honesty, authenticity and one thing we all know as a team for the fact is that there’s nothing else left to add to the film, we have given absolutely everything, our sweat, blood, energy, everything, so that way we are very content. Now it is completely up to the audience. Whatever their response, we will respect that.”

Also read:  Uri: The Surgical Strike movie review — Vicky Kaushal delivers a top notch performance in a potent war drama

For six months, Vicky, who loves watching war and espionage thrillers, trained hard for the film. “The training started on a very surface level. First I had to gain weight to look like Major Vihaan Shergill, which was 15 kilos of weight and a very difficult task for me because of my body type. I don’t put on weight easily. That was surface level prep. Once I finished Manmarziyaan in February–March last year, I went for this boot camp training along with the rest of the cast who were also playing special force commandos. We got trained by someone who was trained by the Black Cat Commandos in real life. It was an endurance and stamina building training. Then we learnt the basic military drill, the code languages, learnt to hold the gun and how to use artillery and ammunitions,” said Vicky excitedly.

Further, the actor said, he interacted with many Indian army men privately to know more about them. “Getting to meet ex-special force commandos, hearing their stories, their mind-set just before they go and after they come back from an operation was a humbling experience for me as an actor. When they are away from the battle ground and when they are totally into it, I just got to live this part so closely. After that process, my love and respect for them knew no bounds. My outlook towards the military has changed. I always had respect for them, but now portraying their life in such a personal way, it just gave me an opportunity to play so many different shades of their lives – their family life, their life at the war front, their training, and everything to do with them,” said Vicky.

Vicky said he completely surrendered to the director and the script and didn’t research anything on his own. “For me the script became my memo. Aditya and I had several sit down discussions about how he researched for the film, who all did he meet and how he came up with the story. How much of it is fictionalised and how much of it is real. I was glad to know that the only fictional part was the identities of the soldiers that went into the surgical strike because as per defence protocol you cannot give out the identities of the soldiers, it is completely classified. Every change made in the script was monitored by the defence so that was one thing that pulled me into it, that everything was dealt with complete sincerity and in a responsible manner. The motto of the director is not just to entertain people and show them a great story of valour and sacrifice of the Indian army but when an Indian army official or somebody from their family watches this film, they should have that feeling of pride that it did justice to their life,” said Vicky.

It has been only three years since Vicky’s first film and the actor would like to continue exploring new territories. “Success and failure, both are part and parcel of the game. I will rise, I will fall, I will run, I will fly…but as long as I am enjoying the process and whatever is in my destiny it’s most welcome. 2018 was my special year, it feels surreal, and with every passing year I would want the current year to be more special than the previous one. The quest is just to be part of good cinema, keep pushing boundaries with my roles, work with great directors, work with great co-actors, grow as an artiste, grow as a human being and keep evolving. I want to keep surprising my viewers,” said Vicky, who will start shooting for Dharma Productions’ period family drama Takht from mid-2019.

Also read:  This is Vicky Kaushal’s year: With Sanju, Raazi, Love Per Square Foot, Lust Stories, he’s a force to reckon with

After sharing screen space with Ranbir Kapoor in Sanju, Vicky will be seen with superstar, ‘Simmba’ Ranveer Singh in the Karan Johar directorial. “Ranveer deserves all the attention and adulation, he is so amazing,” said Vicky.

Vicky has so far worked with directors like Raju Hirani, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, Meghna Gulzar and Neeraj Ghaywan, and some of the directors on his list, include, Shoojit Sircar, Sriram Raghavan, Zoya Akhtar, Mani Ratnam and Vishal Bhardwaj. “I am a very greedy actor, I want to work with everybody. I will try and push my limits, I want to aim at being completely honest between ‘Action’ and ‘Cut’,” he signed off sounding excited about showing Uri to his parents as soon as he gets back to Mumbai.