Operation Valentine Movie Review

Varun Tej attempts an Aerial Action Film, akin to Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter. Interestingly, Varun and director Shakti Pratap chose a story which is based on real incidents. How is this film? How did Varun Tej perform in the role of a fighter pilot? Did he succeed in his endeavors? Let’s find out.

What is it about?

Arjun Rudradev alias Rudra (Varun Tej) is the leader of the Indian Air Force squadron. His adventures and devil-may-carry attitude lands him in challenges. He is in love with Ahana Gill (Manushi Chhillar), a radar officer in the Air Force. Amidst the construction of Project Vajra, he experiences a tragedy. Following this, he embarks on a mission for Operation Valentine. What is the story behind this operation? What is the goal of Project Vajra? The film has answers for this.

Performances

Varun Tej plays a unique character as an Air Force pilot. His physical appearance helps him act the part well. The movie lacks standout moments aside from his physicality. Manushi Chhillar gets a role that fits her modern personality in her Tollywood debut. However, there is nothing particularly memorable about her performance. The romance track between the lead pair is not convincing enough. Navdeep gets a small role which hardly makes an impact. Sampath Raj, Ruhani Sharma, Paresh Pahuja, Shataf Figar, and Ali Reza got ineffective roles.

Technicalities

Writing played spoilsport. Better focus on this craft might have brought the right feelings in this patriotic story. The film lacked the emotional impact. Drama is missing, thus failing this Operation. Action scenes are good. VFX work is not convincing. Background music is loud at portions.

Thumbs Up:

Patriotic Theme

Thumbs Down:

Impactless Scenes
Weak Sentiment
Missing Drama
VFX work

Analysis

Operation Valentine is about a mission that took place in Pakistan, targeting at India and how we responded with strong retaliation. It’s based on true events from 2019 when there was a terrorist attack in Pulwama in India. This is countered by India’s Balakot Air Strikes. It is an Aerial Action film set against a patriotic backdrop.

Unfortunately, director Shakti Pratap Singh Hada didn’t succeed in bringing out the intended emotions. And the result is failing to deliver a thrilling and engaging film. Despite having a strong patriotic theme, the film fails to deliver a strong narrative.

There is a common link between Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter and Operation Valentine, as both the films are based on Pulwama attacks. But Operation Valentine is plaqued by its own shortcomings.

Films based on patriotic themes have both advantages and disadvantages. Many patriotic films have been made in the past. Be it Roja or Bombay or Dil Se, Mani Ratnam has successfully made such films. All these have personal life and struggle. However, this is missing in the Operation Valentine. The scenes showing the relationship between Varun Tej and Manushi look artificial. The personal life and family emotion of a protagonist is important for audiences to hook to the larger conflict.

The first half fails to connect and it gets better at the interval. The real story lies in the second-half. The humour also didn’t work as it looked forced.

There are a handful of moments that work in the second-half. For instance, the aerial combat scenes are saving grace for the film. The courage of the Indian Air Force and their operations are well depicted, but they too lack depth. The drama is insufficient.

Given the backdrop, there is a lot to be shown. But the makers lost it. Even technically, it isn’t brilliant owing to unimpressive VFX and loud BGM work. On the whole, it is a wasted opportunity.

The point to be noted is that all patriotic films are not successful. Operation Valentine belongs to the latter as it joins the failed missions.

Bottom-line: Failed Operation!

Rating: 2.25/5