Varun Tej is known for trying out new scripts that have something new to offer to the audience. He is back at it with his latest outing, Operation Valentine. The film hit the theaters today and here is what we have to say about the same.
Story: Pilot Arjun Dev(Varun) is a zestful Indian Air Force Officer who values his job above all else. He is no in charge of leading the mission that is a direct retaliation to the Balakot air strike. How does this huge job affect his personal relationship with Aahana Gill(Manushi Chhillar)? Will the mission be a successful one?
How did the actors perform?
Varun Tej is good in role of an Air Force officer as he has the right demeanor for such a role. He delivers a refined performance in his challenging role. Manushi is decent as the female lead. The rest of the cast has limited prominence in the script.
What about the technical finesse?
The director Shakti Pratap Singh picks a patriotic subject and he blends it with a great deal of VFX and visual presentation. But the core story which had so much potential is under utilized with the desire to have too many VFX episodes. The background score is of extremely good quality. The cinematography is equally good. But the VFX part and editing are sloppy.
Analysis:
First and foremost, making a patriotic on true incidents, and more so on emotionally invested Indian air strikes like Balakot need to be handled with extreme care. But in this case, the director has little emphasis on exploring the emotional core of the subject as he desires to offer an action packed ride with air force sequences.
The love track doesn't have any impetus and it just brings down the flow of the film. More care had to be taken about the presentation of the emotional angle of the officers involved.
The VFX is so sloppy and shady that the audience instantly lose interest once the action sequences come on screen. If the resources of post production were limited, the director was better off dealing with the emotional part of the story instead of going after these middling action sequences.
The ending was supposed to be emotionally high inducing one but it underwhelms due to the weak build up which ends the film on a disappointing note.
Verdict: Operation Valentine is a film loaded with too many turbulences with regard to the story narration. The film has excellent soundtrack and aesthetic cinematography(footage shots) but the VFX is shady and doesn't have the desired quality.
Rating: 2.25/5
