Actor Rana Daggubati, who has written a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee drawing attention to the need to acknowledge the country's unsung heroes, says civilians need to know about tales of bravery.

Rana's forthcoming film "The Ghazi Attack" features him as Lieutenant Commander Arjun Varma, who was part of a mission conducted by the Indian Navy against the Pakistani naval force in 1971. Varma is said to have remained underwater for 18 days during the war.

During the course of working on the film, Rana met some real navy officers who were on board. Hearing their experiences moved the actor to write a letter to the President.

Talking about it, Rana said in a statement: "Post 'Ghazi', a civilian like me has understood a lot about victorious battles that have been fought by all our armed forces on the borders so as to keep us safe."

"As a civilian I did not know about these victorious tales and like me there are many others who did not know much about it. To us, it's a letter to acknowledge these heroes and make sure we know more about these unsung heroes and their tales of victory."

His movie rekindles the mystery of what caused the sinking of the PNS Ghazi. It also features Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon, Taapsee Panu and late veteran actor Om Puri.