National Film Awards 2018: Aditya Dhar says he dedicates the best director award to the soldiers of the country

The 66th National Film Awards for the year 2018 are announced and many Bollywood films like 'Andhadhun', 'Padmaavat', 'URI' and 'Badhai Ho' have been honoured with the esteemed award. Popular director Aditya Dhar has bagged an award as the best director for URI: The Surgical Strike.
After the announcement was made Aditya thanked the ministry for considering him worthy enough for this prestigious award. In a statement, he said, "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.15 years of failures, rejections and hard work has to lead to this moment and it just can’t get better than this.Thank you India, thank you Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and all the Jury members of National Award committee for considering me worthy enough for this prestigious award. This is an honour I am going to cherish for the rest of my life. Being conferred with the National Award has been a dream since the time I understood what films meant to me, and films truly mean the world to me."
Furthermore expressing his gratitude towards the producers he mentioned, "Thank you Ronnie Screwvala and my entire team of URI for giving it all and making URI what it is. This film wouldn’t have been possible without the mad obsession of each one of you to create something extraordinary for our audience. "
Finally, dedicating this award to the brave soldiers of the country he averred, "Thanks to my family and friends for their unconditional support over the years. The way my parents and my brother stood by me through all the struggle is what helped me realise my dream so beautifully. But most importantly I am dedicating this award to each and every brave soldier of our country and their families. Thank you for all your sacrifices. You have selflessly dedicated your life to serve us and now it’s our time to dedicate everything we have to serve you."
Meanwhile, the film Uri: The Surgical Strike released in January 2019 features Vicky Kaushal in a lead role. It is based on the surgical strikes conducted in 2016 by the Indian Army, against militant launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).