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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Filmmaker assaulted during argument over CAA-NRC in WB

News Network

January 2,2020

Jan 2: A young filmmaker was allegedly assaulted by an acquaintance during an argument over CAA-NRC in neighbouring Salt Lake City, police said on Wednesday.

The police have arrested the accused following a complaint by the filmmaker.

According to a senior police officer, the argument over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) began following a social media post by the filmmaker.

The accused allegedly went to the house of the filmmaker on Monday night and picked up an argument, which led to a scuffle.

"During the scuffle, the accused attacked the filmmaker with a knife," the senior police officer said, adding that the accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

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Actor Rajinikanth defends Govt on CAA, says it won't affect Indian Muslims

News Network

February 5,2020

Chennai, Feb 5: The popular cine actor Rajinikanth has defended the Union Government on the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying it will not affect the Indian Muslims.

In a brief interaction with reporters this morning in Chennai, the matinee idol said if the Muslims are affected by the CAA, he would be at the forefront in their defence. He asked how will the legislation affect the Indian Muslims when they chose to stay back in the country to make it their motherland. Mr Rajinikanth also supported the National Population Register saying it has been in force even in the past.

On the NRC, Mr Rajinikanth said the Government has already made it clear that its nationwide rollout has not been even discussed so far. Mr Rajinikanth is nourishing political ambitions and has made it clear that he would plunge into politics ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections in the state which is due in 2021.

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This law violates the fundamentals of the Indian constitution. Whey they are seeing the Muslims angle first?

It looks that they are misinforming the public by diverting into a Muslim only issue. If that was the case, why so many non-Muslims are protesting? I looks like Rajini has back-end support to the center's CAA move.

He is another crack, hamare desh main pagal logon ki kami nahi

What can expect from ex KSRTC bus conductor

clear sign of ZERO knowedge with Indian constitution.

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Bollywood actor sells vegetables in Odisha to survive pandemic

News Network

July 25,2020

Bhubaneswar, Jul 25: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many people hard, and the latest victim of the pandemic is Bollywood actor Kartika Sahoo from Odisha. With the entertainment industry almost non-functional and most productions on hold, the actor is forced to sell vegetables for a living.

Sahoo, who hails from the from Garadpur block of the Kendrapada district in Odisha, said that he went to Mumbai to try his luck in Bollywood at the age of 17. For many years he worked as a bodyguard to film stars and cricketers such as Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar, among others.

Lady luck shone on him in 2018, and he landed noticeable roles in the action sequences of many movies, he said while speaking with news agency. He also has a fight sequence with Akshay Kumar in his upcoming film 'Sooryavanshi'.

Just before the nationwide lockdown which started on March 22, Sahoo had returned home to Odisha after shooting a fight sequence in Jaipur. Since then, with no work, the actor has been living off his savings to sustain his family. But, after four months of no work, and a medical emergency, a major part of his savings was drained.

To find work, he moved to state capital Bhubaneswar, but to no avail. In the end, Sahoo had to resort to selling vegetables in Rasulgad there.

Sahoo is still hopeful and said that he'll again try his luck in Bollywood once the situation is back to normal, till then he'll struggle, like others, for survival.

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