How 'Uri's popular 'How's the Josh' line came to life

Agencies
February 6, 2019

Mumbai, Feb 6: "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.

Recalling the story behind the catch-phrase, Aditya told news agency, "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," Aditya told news agency.

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 January 11, 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.

The film's journey-and it's eventual success-is stuff of legends for Aditya.

The director was working on "Raat Baaki", which was supposed to feature Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead but Khan had to exit the project after Pakistani artistes were banned from working in India in the aftermath of the Uri attacks.

Aditya turned the situation on its head and made a different film, which has not only been a box office success but also taught him to use unpredictable nature of the business in his favour.

"I learnt in this industry that whatever the adversity, you have to just push yourself and change the situation in your favour. When the surgical strikes happened and Pakistani artistes were banned, everyone was sad that our film won't get made.

"I wanted to know what happened during the attacks because that sounded like a great story. That switch happened very fast. It is the only way to survive in this industry, it is difficult, you have to be mentally strong. No matter what, you've to always keep the josh high," he said.

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News Network
March 19,2020

London, Mar 19: "Game of Thrones" star Indira Varma has revealed that she has tested positive for coronavirus.

Her diagnosis comes two days after fellow "Game of Thrones" actor Kristofer Hivju also said that he tested positive for the COVID-19 infection.

Varma, who played the role of Ellaria Sand in the epic HBO series, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share the news.

"I'm in bed with it and it's not nice. Stay safe and healthy and be kind to your fellow people," she wrote.

The 46-year-old actor was starring in the modern take of Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull" in London's West End, alongside "Game of Thrones" alum Emilia Clarke.

The play is on hold due to the pandemic.

"So sad our and so many other shows around the world have gone dark affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope to be back soon and urge you all (and the govt) to support us when we do. Phoenix/ Seagull rising from the ashes (sic)," Varma wrote in her post with photos from the rehearsals.

Varma and Hivju join Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, Olga Kurylenko, and Rachel Matthews among the Hollywood celebrities who contracted the virus.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Feb 10: Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” starts in a dingy, half-basement apartment with a family of four barely able to scratch out a life. There must be no place to go but up, right? Yes and no. There’s nothing predictable when the South Korean director is on his game.

This dark, socially conscious film about the intertwining of two families is an intricately plotted, adult thriller. We can go up, for sure, but Bong can also take us deeper down. There’s always an extra floor somewhere in this masterpiece.

It tells the story of the impoverished four-person Kim family who, one by one, and with careful and devious planning, all get employed by the four-person affluent Park family — as a tutor, an art teacher, a driver and a housekeeper. They are imposters stunned by the way wealth can make things easier: “Money is an iron. It smooths out all the creases,” says the Park patriarch with wonder.

Bong, who directed and wrote the story for “Parasite,” has picked his title carefully, of course. Naturally, he’s alluding to the sycophantic relationship by a clan of scammers to the clueless rich who have unwittingly opened the doors of their home on a hill. But it’s not that simple. The rich family seem incapable of doing anything — from dishes to sex — without help. Who’s scamming who?

Bong’s previous films play with film genres and never hide their social commentary — think of the environmentalist pig-caper “Okja” and the dystopian sci-fi global warming scream “Snowpiercer.” But this time, Bong’s canvas is a thousand times smaller and his focus light-years more intense. There are no CGI train chases on mountains or car chases through cities. (There is also, thankfully, 100% less Tilda Swinton, a frequent, over-the-top Bong collaborator.

The two Korean families first make contact when a friend of the Kim’s son asks him to take over English lessons for the Park daughter. Soon the son (a dreamy Choi Woo-sik) convinces them to hire his sister (the excellent Park So-dam) as an art teacher, but doesn’t reveal it’s his sis. She forges her diploma and spews arty nonsense she learned on the internet, impressing the polite but firm Park matriarch (a superb Jo Yeo-jeong.)

The Park’s regular chauffer is soon let go and replaced by the Kim patriarch (a steely Lee Sun-kyun). Ditto the housemaid, who is dumped in favor of the Kims’ mother (a feisty Jang Hye-jin.) All eight people seem happy with the new arrangement until Bong reveals a twist: There are more parasites than you imagined. The clean, impeccably furnished Park home will have some blood splashing about.

Bong’s trademark slapstick is still here but the rough edges of his often too-loud lessons are shaved down nicely and his actors step forward. “Keep it focused,” the Kim’s son counsels his father at one point. Bong has followed that advice.

There are typically dazzling Bong touches throughout. Just look for all the insect references — stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames. And there’s a scene in which the rich matriarch skillfully winds noodles in a bowl while, in another room, duct tape is being wrapped around a victim and classical music plays.

Bong could have been more strident in his social critique but hasn’t. There are no villains in “Parasite” — and also no heroes. Both families are forever broken after chafing against each other, a bleak message about the classes ever really co-existing (Take that, “Downton Abbey”).

“Parasite” is a worthy winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first South Korean movie to win the prestigious top prize. The director has called it an “unstoppably fierce tragicomedy.” We just call it brilliant.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Mumbai, Jan 18: Actor Shabana Azmi was injured in an accident on Saturday afternoon on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra's Raigad district, an official said.

The incident took place around 3.30 pm near Khalapur, over 60 km from Mumbai, when the car in which she was traveling rammed into a truck, said Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar.

She was rushed to MGM hospital in Navi Mumbai and was undergoing treatment, he said.

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