Guys, we have our first hit in Bollywood of 2019! Uri: The Surgical Strike has enjoyed a very good opening weekend. As per trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Uri has collected Rs 35.73 crore in three days. He had tweeted, "#UriTheSurgicalStrike emerges the FIRST HIT of 2019... Indeed, 2019 has started with high josh... Sets the BO on 🔥🔥🔥 on Day 3... Packs a solid total in its opening weekend... Fri 8.20 cr, Sat 12.43 cr, Sun 15.10 cr. Total: ₹ 35.73 cr. India biz. #Uri #HowsTheJosh". Since Uri is made on a budget of Rs 28 crore, reportedly, it has already become profitable. So congrats to the entire team! Uri The Surgical Strike Box Office Collection Day 3: Vicky Kaushal's Film Scores Big in the Opening Weekend.

Uri: The Surgical Strike stars Vicky Kaushal in the lead, with Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina, Yami Gautam, Swaroop Sampat, Kirti Kulhari and Rajit Kapur in important roles. The movie is directed by Aditya Dhar, and is based in India's (controversially true) retaliatory surgical strikes 11 days after the terrorist attacks in Uri, Kashmir, where 19 army personnel were killed. Released along with Anupam Kher's The Accidental Prime Minister, Uri had an upper hand when it came to both the critics and the audiences. Uri Movie Review: Vicky Kaushal's Josh-ila Performance is One Big Reason To Watch This Fallacious War Drama.

Here are five reasons why Uri The Surgical Strike has turned out to be a winner at the box office.

Riding on the Nationalist Wave

There is hardly any doubt that Uri is cashing in on the nationalistic fervour that the audience is through. Dialogues in the film like 'Yeh Naya Hindustan Hai. Yeh Ghar Mein Ghusega Bhi Aur Maarega Bhi!' are meant to cash on this sentiment.So when Vihaan Singh (Vicky Kaushal) screams 'What's The Josh?', the viewers nearly reply in unison, 'High, Sir!'.  While I am not exactly in favour of this trend (considering what the ultimate motive is), if it is bringing in money for the producers, the film industry.

...And Yet is Not In-Your-Face Propaganda

Both Uri and The Accidental Prime Minister have been accused of being propaganda material for the ruling BJP government ahead of the April elections. While TAPM is more so in the line, Uri feels the lesser devil, though we cannot rule out the propaganda touches completely. It is also jingoistic at times, but reigns it in for some realistic war scenes. Uri The Surgical Strike: PM Narendra Modi, Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley – 5 Politicians Who ‘Appear’ in Vicky Kaushal’s War Film (Spoiler Alert).

Actually, Well-Made! 

It might be his debut movie, but Aditya Dhar has done a very competent job in executing the material in hand. The combat scenes are well-choreographed, the cinematography is excellent and the background score is simply good. He is supported by some fine performances from the cast, especially Vicky Kaushal and Mohit Raina (even in that brief screentime).

The Curiosity of Uri Attacks and The Surgical Strikes

When the terrorist attacks in Uri happened in 2016, the incident was so widely covered and called out on. The anti-Pakistan sentiment was on a high then, and Bollywood was asked to stop hiring Pakistani actors. Then the government declared they carried out surgical strikes across terrorist outposts along the border of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Pakistan claims that nothing of that sort happened (if they did, then they would be accused of harbouring terrorists) and United Nations was also dicey of the whole situation. Even the opposition parties are suspicious of the scale of the operations. So naturally, there is a lot of curiosity over the whole slate of events.

While there is no ambiguity as such in the movie (it believes that the surgical strikes did happen), the curiosity factor works in favour of the film.

Better Reviews

The intention, or rather the timing of the release, is definitely flawed, but the making is good. Which is why, Uri has been getting favourable reviews from the critics. In this time where social media views and good first impressions make a hell lot of difference (ask Shah Rukh Khan!), these first good reviews matter a lot!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 14, 2019 02:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).