Operation Valentine

Based on a true story "Operation Valentine" is a decent aerial action drama based on the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack and the Indian Air Force's retaliatory Balakot Air Strikes. What is refreshing compared to Yodha is that Operation Valentine does not show Pakistani Air Force to be dumbos. Personally, I found the visual effects and cinematography to be fairly descent, especially the aerial dog fights. First half is a bit slow, but the second half picks up and visually exceeds expectations.

There are comparisons being drawn to Fighter and hence the average lower rating but personally I found the film to be a lighter and more realistic version of Fighter and better than Agnipankh, the film is fun to watch. Not sure about the Telegu version (there are mixed reviews) but the Hindi version had decent dialogues. Deepika no doubt is much better than Ruhani who is wooden. With a 5x times more budget the VFX is much better in Fighter, however as usual as a Bollywood blockbuster Fighter concentrates a lot on song and dance and hardly has any Airforce Training Sorties or simulations. In fact all the fighter jets used in the actual mission were portrayed wrongly in Fighter. As an Defence and AF enthusiast, I loved the Air Force training aspects of Operation Valentine. Hrithik Roshan is showing his age whereas Varun Tej looks the part. The Script was average for both.

Firstly, I don't watch films purely using Hollywood features as a benchmark. Every country, culture, possess their own angles and approaches toward visual story telling. For a military/heroism type of film, this is a non-hollywood one that I find entertaining, and without sourcing for information regarding their production value, I can see it is done with the budget that is sensible to the Indian filmmakers.

There's nothing 'wrong' with the story/plot of this film, the premise is fine. Though, the dialogue/scenes can take a little more work, to make it more sophisticated - however it isn't that bad or 'cringy' like various films that I have seen - including big budgeted ones from Hollywood.

The VFX, and depiction of the aircraft are good enough to not make it look 'dodgy'. I believed the types of fighter jets, i.e. The Mirages, the MIGs, depicted are accurate with reference to India Air Force.

As a non-Indian, I am aware of the trend in Indian films (aka 'Bollywood' in my side of the world) to include pop or dance music. The featured music/songs are quite decent to me - melodiously. I wouldn't mind listening to them again, even though I don't understand the language.

The acting style of the actors is, in my opinion, culturally Indian. Just like in Japanese films which the Japanese actors' style is culturally tied to Japanese behavior and way their of life. I'm fine with it.

As a whole, this film is entertaining to me. However, if you are looking for Hollywood style/grade type of films, then don't bother watching this or any other films from other countries. This film will cater to those who want some action/military type entertainment, some interest in military hardware, perhaps over a relaxing weekend.

Aerial action movies are being explored by filmmakers recently, and it's not easy to execute them as they require high budgets and extensive research.

This movie depicts an aerial attack that India has never faced before, and our decorated officers must give their all to save the nation from catastrophe.

We have seen many stories in this vein, mostly centered on the Indian army. As a result, the story lacks uniqueness. Even the use of real-time incidents or sequences is not well established, making everything seem too fictional. There are multiple sequences that are absurd and funny, as even a common person can tell that the IAF doesn't operate the way it is portrayed.

Varun Tej, as the central lead, has the persona to carry such roles, but his limited expressions dampen the whole viewing experience. The same goes for the leading lady, Manushi Chillar, who looks beautiful but needs to work on her acting chops. Their chemistry also does not work in their favor.

The graphics are amateurish, and you can tell that people have acted in front of a green screen, though a few scenes in the sky are brilliant and well-captured. Movies like this should evoke a patriotic feeling, but this one does not, as you know you are watching a fictional tale. In one scene, a missile lands in a terrorist camp with the text 'Happy Valentine's Day' on it. This shows how much the filmmakers got carried away.

Cinematic liberties are fine, but they should elevate the experience, not make you laugh at its absurdity. The dialogues are good, though, and pack a punch. Credit can be given for trying something new, but it turned out to be a below-average affair.

#pranureviews #OperationValentine #OperationValentineReview.

Highly disappointed with the movie. It has bad graphics (which is normal in the Telugu industry), terrible dialogues, and a very forgettable storyline.

There are no gripping scenes. The movie tries to mix Hollywood style shots with an Indian storyline, and resulted in absolute disaster. The acting of the cast was very artificial, and added zero emotion to the movie.

The storyline of the movie is a very generic storyline, involving terrorists and the Indian Air Force. Moreover, the poor storyline makes the movie so boring, I slept halfway in the middle.

Overall, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME in watching this movie. There are better movies than this.

Anyone who knows the technical details and exact events that happened in real life, will appreciate this movie. This movie correctly depicts almost everything that happened in the Balakot air strike.

Comparing this to "Fighter" movie which was made with 5x times more budget than Operation Valentine got almost every detail wrong. "Fighter" movie over powered the enemy and under powered the protagonist, not only that they got all Fighter Jets used in the operation wrong. They added dance numbers and made it a commercial movie, which is why it did more numbers.

"Operation Valentine" on the other hand correctly depicted almost all variants of fighter jets used in the operation, along with getting all events true to real life. To Finish off, It doesn't just get the technical details right, it is also a good entertainer. But if you're looking for dance numbers, you should look elsewhere. I could only imagine what they could've done with a budget similar to big budget movies.