Varun Tej was last seen in film Operation Valentine. The Shakti Pratap Singh directorial - incidentally his directorial debut - featured the actor in the role of a troubled but talented Indian Air Force officer. The film failed to take off at the box office.

Varun Tej turns reflective in first social media post since Operation Valentine debacle

Varun Tej took to his Instagram handle, in what was weeks since his last post, to share a picture of himself sitting atop a mountain against the rising sun. Dressed casually, the actor can be seen striking a pensive expression. The caption to the post read, "Don’t do things on purpose, Do it for a purpose.." 

The actor's last post prior to this, had been about the release of Operation Valentine, which hit theatres on March 1. The film, reportedly mounted on a budget of ₹42 crores, failed to even make a recovery with its earnings. As per a Sacnilk report, the film's domestic collections came in at ₹8.1 crores with its worldwide net collections being ₹9.75 crores. Interestingly, the film served as former Miss World Manushi Chhillar's Telugu acting debut. Incidentally, Operation Valentine marks Varun Tej's second box office dud in a row after 2023 release Gandeevadhari Arjuna. As per a Sacnilk report, the films domestic collections were ₹2.5 crores with its worldwide net number standing at ₹3 crores.

Varun Tej is currently filming for Matka

Varun Tej now has all his hopes pinned on his next, Matka. A recent Gulte report suggested that the film is inspired from the life of the late Matka king, Ratan Khatri. For the unversed, Ratan Khatri had a stronghold over the Indian Matka gambling industry between the 1960s and the 1980s.

Directed by Karuna Kumar, the film reportedly spans a timeline of 24 years and will feature the actor sporting four different looks to reflect the same.