Vicky Kaushal's Name In ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ Was Inspired By Hrithik Roshan’s Film ‘Lakshya’, Reveals Aditya Dhar

As India celebrates its 75 years of independence today on August 15, 2022, let’s remember a series of films made on Indian soldiers, who fearlessly protect the country and its citizens. Some of them include ‘Border’, ‘LOC: Kargil’, ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’, ‘Lakshya’ and ‘Shershaah’. However, did you know that ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ and ‘Lakshya’, two films which have achieved cult status over the years, have a common connection?

Well, in a recent interview with Pinkvilla, ‘Uri’ director Aditya Dhar revealed, "So not many people know this. Vicky’s name in the film is Vihaan Singh Shergill, and the name was inspired from Hrithik Roshan’s name in Lakshya, which was Karan Sheirgill. I really love Lakshya, so in my own way I paid a small tribute to that film by giving Vicky’s character the same surname."

He also added how he added his lucky number 3 in the film and said, "You know when they go for surgical strike in the movie, there is a time that begins and reflects at the bottom of the screen. All the numbers in those mentioned timings are multiples of three, because 3 is my lucky number. So I kept it like that, and nobody really knows about it.”

For the unversed, the 2019 film ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’, starring Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam, focused on India's retaliation to the 2016 Uri attacks, during which the country country conducted a surgical strike on the terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). The film, which was the directorial debut of Aditya, got him the National Film Award for Best Director.

‘Lakshya’, on the other hand, was released in 2004 and was based on the 1999 Kargil War between the two neighbouring nations. It starred Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. It was arhan Akhtar's second film after his debut in 2001 with ‘Dil Chahta Hai’.

Going ahead, Aditya's upcoming film includes ‘The Immortal Ashwatthama’, which also stars Vicky Kaushal.