Operation Valentine Review - Hits Some Spots Right, Misfires A Lot

Operation Valentine Review: Shakti Pratap Singh Hada's Operation Valentine, coming after Uri: The Surgical Strike and Fighter, has to be one of the major disadvantages for the film. The Varun Tej and Manushi Chhillar-starrer has the same story we all know for the last 5 years, so it feels repetitive. Despite that, the team really managed well in the last 30 minutes by adding some extra events that were neither covered by Uri nor Fighter. Though the involvement of the characters and storytelling were weak, one can still give them credit for at least trying something new. It hits some spots right, but misfires a lot.IAF Wing commands Rudra (Varun Tej) and his co-pilot experiment with the dangerous stunt of flying at 20 metres from the surface to avoid radar signals from enemies. During the flight, his co-pilot dies, and "Operation Vajra" is put on hold. His life partner and Radar expert, Aahna (Manushi Chhillar), is unhappy with his dangerous missions, and something is off between them even though they love each other so much. On that Black Valentine's Day, Rudra is set to engage with the enemies in the air, but their real target was Pulwama. To take revenge for the same, Rudra is given the tough task of an air strike without getting in the sights of the enemies, which means "Operation Vajra" is updated as "Operation Valentine." With so many red marks on his scorecard, Rudra must take some tough calls that are sure to risk his life to protect his country.Operation Valentine is a predictable story, and the screenplay doesn't offer anything new. Some thrills are there in the last 20–25 minutes, especially the last 5 minutes when we go literally blank. It works for the momentum since we are all habitually used to dramatic endings and last-minute turnarounds in the climax. Yet, the screenplay needed a fresh take on this story, which it fails to achieve. It doesn't even try to do anything new. As mentioned above, only a few scenes in the last quarter look like they are trying something, but even those events are quite known to everyone. Operation Valentine suffers the most from its outdated screenplay, never to recover. Also, some action scenes look blatant. A missile has a written message for terrorists as it lands in their house, but it won't blast until they are finished reading it. What the hell? A radar expert can see through forests and trees in the middle of the night. Wow! So stupid.Varun Tej has tried to give an honest performance, and he suits the aggressive image of an Air Force officer. His dialogue delivery could have been better here, along with his crystal clear expression in those very serious moments. He missed both. Manushi Chhillar has a lot to learn, but it's good that she is not trying to be repetitive. On the acting front, the competition is tougher than the Miss Universe battle. Vaibhav Tatwawaadi plays a Pak Air Force officer and does a decent job as the leading commander on the other side of the border. But let me tell you, he is that typical villain of yours, and you can't help it. Ruhani Sharma, Shataf Figar, Sampath Raj, Navdeep, Ali Reza, and others were strictly okay. The voice dubbing definitely had some issues with sync and transactions. Some of the dialogue sounded half-baked.Hari K. Vedantam's cinematography deserved better visual effects. The VFX work of Operation Valentine is indeed bad, and nothing can explain how. Except for the budget issues. The soundtrack is decent, but all the songs only make the film longer and boring. I could have saved a lot of time by skipping them if it was an OTT release. Naveen Nooli's editing is subpar. The film is not that long—130 minutes or so—yet it looks stretched because the editing doesn't have a grip. Shakti Pratap Singh Hada's direction makes Operation Valentine a very mediocre film. From presentation, visuals, storytelling, and big-screen impact, OV never looks like a big-screen spectacle. As a whole, Operation Valentine has a motive but no vision to execute it on the screen.