Its resounding success at the box office aside, Vicky Kaushal’s Uri: The Surgical Strike has won critical acclaim for its depiction of the Indian Army’s efforts in the 2016 surgical strike against Pakistan. However, recently, a review of the Aditya Dhar-directed film by a Pakistani cinephile attracted the attention of social media users — the reviewer opined that the military drama not only glorified war but also presented Pakistanis as “headless chickens”.

Taking the critique head-on, Dhar says, “A person has to be evil to think war is a great thing. We all need peace. Having said that, if we want to defend our borders, we have to fight these elements. As a filmmaker, I was telling the story in chronological order. My point was to showcase the bravado of our army. Soldiers don’t like killing people.”