With Uri, Vicky Kaushal joins the ranks of Ayushmann Khurranna, Rajkummar Rao

Uri Image- Twitter.com @vickykaushal09

Joginder Tuteja

Badhaai Ho, Stree and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety -- What's the common factor between each of these three films? Well, these were all 'relatively' smaller films as compared to some big ticket flicks that were offered in 2018. However, despite their restricted budget (ranging from Rs 25-40 crore), they not just entered the Rs 100 crore club but also emerged as blockbusters.

There is more -- none of these films were star driven vehicles.

Now add one more to the list -- Vicky Kaushal's Uri - The Surgical Strike. The 2019 release has not just made the best opening of the lot when compared to each of the aforementioned films, it is also headed for the best first week numbers. While it is now pretty much heading towards the Rs 100 crore club mark, one waits to see if it has the best lifetime collections as well.

Interestingly, each of these films has actors who are now turning out to be bonafide stars.

Ayushmann Khurranna was being consistent at the box office but was scoring in the Rs 30-40 crore range. Just a few weeks before the release of Badhaai Ho he did get a big one with Andhadhun which managed to go past the Rs 70-crore mark. However, Badhaai Ho -- a story of character actors Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta -- broke all boundaries to score Rs 138 crore.

Rajkummar Rao has been around for a while and has done solo leads, two-hero movies, middle of the road cinema and commercial flicks that work. However, he did not have even a single Rs 50-crore success to his name. However, everything changed with horror-comedy Stree. Presence of Shraddha Kapoor helped but all said and done, the man of the moment was Rao who is now called as the Rs 100-crore club star.

Kartik Aryan could well have been forever relegated to being the Pyaar Ka Punchnama hero. One cannot blame the audience for that. After all, his Kaanchi, Akashvani and Guest iin London went unnoticed. However, when he stepped into Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (which could have been named Pyaar Ka Punchnama 3), the industry acknowledged him better than ever before. The film's Rs 100-crore success has now ensured that he is finally treated like a star.

Kaushal too will now be taken much more seriously as an actor, than ever before. He first came to limelight with art house cinema Masaan. Year 2018 though was a year of reckoning for him even as he contributed to Alia Bhatt's Rs 100-crore success Raazi and then gleefully played supporting role to Ranbir Kapoor in Sanju. He did make a flashy about-turn in Manmarziyaan and then went digital with Love Per Square Foot and Lust Stories.

However, no one really expected what awaited them with Uri - The Surgical Strike. The film arrived like a flash and broke every record created by other young emerging stars in 2018.

Opening day figures of Badhaai Ho, Stree and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety were Rs 7.35 crore, Rs 6.82 crore and Rs 6.42 crore, respectively. The three films managed first week numbers of Rs 61.85 crore, Rs 60.39 crore and Rs 45.94 crore, respectively.

On the other hand, Uri - The Surgical Strike’s collection for the first day stood at Rs 8.20 crore and is pretty much staring at Rs 65 crore for the first week.

What further reaffirms Kaushal’s status as a bonafide star in the making is the fact that his film did not come with any kind of cushioning per se.

Badhaai Ho still had Khurranna as the star material who started with Vicky Donor and then had three back to back successes behind him (Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Savdhan, Andhadhun).

Rao is a better known actor and with Shraddha Kapoor as the leading lady, hit music and audience friendly genre (horror comedy), it always had a good chance to perform. Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety had the hit director-actors 'jodi' (Luv Ranjan, Kartik Aryan, Nushrat Bharucha and Sunny Singh) after Pyaar Ka Punchnama, coupled with chartbuster music.

Uri - The Surgical Strike however was strictly relying on the subject and content as the director was new and music too was not the driving force.

Moreover, a genre like that had not been attempted before either. Hence, Kaushal had to rely on the overall package instead of anything specific that would have propelled the film to something much bigger. Yet, he scored and that was due to his own effort combined with that of first time director Aditya Dhar and enterprising producer Ronnie Screwvala.

Each of them has some truly interesting films lined up ahead. Khurranna has Dream Girl and Bala coming up next, Rao would be seen in Made In China and Mental Hai Kya.

Aryan has Luka Chuppi releasing soon whereas Kaushal has a biggie next in the form of Karan Johar’s Takht. He is already in talks for a couple of other films to be made in 2019.

Rest assured, each of these youngsters would have a lot more in the pipeline in time to come, something that would make 2019 and 2020 truly special for a lot of talent which would make their presence felt.

Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. He loves the word 'Bollywood' and truly believes that it has a ring to it that is sweeter than 'Hollywood'.