Varun Tej is currently in the midst of intensively promoting his upcoming film, Operation Valentine. The film, based against the backdrop of the 2019 Balakot Air Strike, will feature the actor opposite former Miss World Manushi Chhillar - the project incidentally marks the former pageant winner's Telugu film debut. The latest development regarding Operation Valentine, is that veteran actor Chiranjeevi will be marking his presence at a pre-release event.

Chiranjeevi to show his support for Operation Valentine

As per a 123Telugu report, a pre-release event for the film is scheduled to take place on February 25 at JRC Conventions located in Hyderabad. Reportedly, Padma Vibhushan Chiranjeevi will be gracing the event as the chief guest. For the unversed, Varun Tej is Chiranjeevi's nephew. Having the actor grace the event appears to be another strategic move on the part of the film's makers, to maximise word about their project ahead of its theatrical release slated for a March 1 release.

Besides Varun Tej and Manushi Chhillar, the film will also star Navdeep and Mir Sarwar. Directed by Shakti Pratap Singh Hada in his directorial debut, the film has been bankrolled by Sony Pictures International Productions, Sandeep Mudda’s Renaissance Pictures, God Bless Entertainment and Nandakumar Abbineni. Mickey J. Meyer has composed the background score for the film.

Varun Tej defends Operation Valentine as a unique project

For the unversed, the recently released Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, too spotlighted the keynote events like the Pulwama Attack and the Balakot Air Strike against the backdrop of the personal lives of Indian Air Force officers. This has automatically led to comparisons of Operation Valentine with the Siddharth Anand film. In a recent interview to Pinkvilla, Varun Tej has shirked the grounds for comparison.

He said, "I know ours will be different even if I haven’t watched Fighter. We’re not trying to glorify anything or focus only on the incident that took place at Balakot. Our film’s focus is on the personal lives of these IAF officers. It’s not just about how the pilot feels when he’s in the cockpit, it’s also about the work he takes back home. We didn’t show any country or any individual in a bad light, the idea was only to focus on the faujis."