Kaatru Veliyidai

A Maniratnam movie. A familiar journey that brings joy yet due to his recent inconsistency, an unpredictable one. The benchmark is so high that anything short of exhilarating, full-on cinematic orgasm, it's a failure. We go to movies to judge. We judge them the moment the final credits roll as we make sense of what we feel.

With "Kaatru Veliyidai" (Breezy Expanse), you aren't happy when you come out of the theater. It still feels unfinished. Something left over. The journey is complete for the protagonist but as a viewer, you're still perplexed. That's when it hits you. You don't like the protagonist. You don't like his flaws, his demeanor, his behavior nor his antics.

Mani's hero's have a higher benchmark. Mani's heroine's, stand on an even taller pedestal. So, while as a film maker, you appreciate his latest character study, it fails to bring any kind of sympathy towards the protagonist. Even when he is a war hero, fighter pilot and becomes a prisoner of war. That's a big bummer as a viewer.

The female protagonist on the other side is flawless, evocative and shimmers in the snow. She is like a snowflake, sensitive, quiet but strong. Her only sin is falling for the bad boy. Karthik has the tougher role among the two and he almost succeeds but like Olympics, it's not good. Not even silver. Bronze, maybe. While he emotes the angry young man with ease, he loses completely when he needs to be vulnerable. Perhaps the biggest flaw is when he convinces his lady love on screen to forgive him but he doesn't even scratch the surface with the audience of his innocence or vulnerability. And that's like missing the penalty kick. Nothing else really matters.

Mani has broken new ground by focusing on just two characters for the entire movie. It's an engrossing ride until interval and a slow, drag in the second half. Ravi Varman, as promised, paints a wonderful background to these two characters in white snow and brown desert. Mani's flawed depiction of Raavan comes to haunt his Officer VC. There is no redemptive sparks in him when he acts immature and being a jerk.

Aditi Rao Hydari has arrived. She is spectacular in every shot and her range of emotions and acting craft is a treat. I had to remind myself that she is not Shobana from Dalapathi. "Kaatru Veliyidai" is a wonderful character study. It just feels like a television drama in the second half ending in a whimper than thunderous applause. It misses the goal post and loses but the journey is still interesting in parts.

It's a Mani Ratnam film. One of the rare filmmakers, whose films does not need to be analysed or enquired to decide to watch, despite whoever the actors are. The best thing from his flicks are the production quality and this film too had an excellent presentation. Always high standards, even for a simple storyline. A perfect line drawn between reality and cinematic. His films are always a family friendly as this one. This is another love story, but with the backdrop of Indian Air Force during the Kargil war. You should not anticipate more actions, because those parts were only part of the story in a small scale. So it is totally a love tale, though not your regular one. That's the highlight.

Like most of the Ratnam films, this is also a flashback narration. An ace Indian fighter jet pilot, VC, is locked down in a jail after his jet was shot down behind the enemy line. He has to concern for getting out of there alive, instead he begins to recall his romantic life with a doctor named Leela. How they met for the first time and developed their awkward relationship were slowly revealed. The struggle to patch their differences and make it to work. They saw more downs in their relationship than the ups. Now rotting in a prison, VC has to go back to his homeland to locate her and make everything right from where he had left before going to the war.

Jammu and Kashmir, captured, clumsy relationship, does not it remind you something else from the past. Yes, it was like another 'Roja'. Except it was partially inspired by a real event of the 70s. Great direction. The locations were breathtaking. Like never seen before Jammu Kashmir. The performances were not bad at all. Then what's wrong with this flick? It was the screenplay. Not engaging as a theme like this requires. This should have been a 90 minute film. They had dragged it for another 40 minutes, that did not work.

The story was not to be blamed. You won't see such concept in Indian cinema. All the big star's films are the same old storyline with a slight change. This was refreshing, but they let it slip away from the opportunity. Particularly Dileep Kumar's music was a let down. There are many promising musicians today, Ratnam should consider to work with them for a change. As usual, the songs were the disadvantage of the film. But it has always been Ratnam's strength in his storytelling. Here it completely failed. Just one time watchable film. I hope he comes back strong with his next project.

6/10

Good visuals and music by AR Rahman but script is not intense enough in this latest Maniratnam outing. Karthi and Aditi shine; this is Aditi's career-best, no doubt. The script is average and the characters have a 90s style persona to them. Cant really help wondering is the movie trying to connect to current gen youths or youths of the past?

Katru Veliyidai fails to connect with the classic Maniratnam romance in the past where he wrote the script for the characters, adopting a film making style that is apt for the script rather than going along with latest trends. the characters here are fine but the romance and character interconnections is solely missing. As a result this movie comes out as a character study rather than a romantic film .

Recall watching Roja - and earlier, all of Mani Sir's films - and being awed, charmed and floored by his craft. Today, if his films - post Alaipayuthey, Kannathil Muthamittal and Aaytha Ezhuthu won international awards but fared poorly in Asia, thats because today's young people aren't the Arvindswamy or the Madhubala types, maybe they are not even Madhavan /shalini types... What this film does is merge the the characters from alaipayuthey and Roja to come up with new stereotypes that is supposedly apt for the late 2010s

The movie could have done better if it has more action and Pakistan jail scenes intermixed with with the flashback romance.

This is a Ravi Varman film, not Maniratnam's. Each and every shot screams the cinematographer's talent. It's like he painted them rather than captured them. RV just enhances the beauty of everything through his skills. If RV is one side of the Kaatru veliyidai coin, ARR is the other. He does what he always does, especially with Maniratnam. A soundtrack that's gonna keep ringing in our ears forever. Songs and scores, ARR nailed them both.

But the same can't be said about Maniratnam's story. Bit of lazy writing. In one scene a character asks another "y does the heroine put up with a abusive, misogynistic hero?" and the answer is "LOVE". It's disappointing that Maniratnam resorts to this age old drama after his last modern outing, OKK. Lot of the scenes are inconsistent. The interval between Azhagiye and Sarattu Vandiyil songs is just 2 min, and the latter seems forced. The film is promoted as a poetic Romantic tale, but I see is an toxic relationship between an abusive hero and stupid heroine. The heroine here wants to be respected but she gives in to the hero for the sake of love.

Aditi Rao does a splendid job, but Karthi does falter. He needs to work in emoting vulnerabilities. The production design is great.

Overall RV and ARR have put their best to save MR's weak story.

A Maniratnam film always has a "solid" base for human relationships and this film isn't different in that aspect. Where it differs is the story narration - that is less verbose, more visual(and cryptic). The Characters (VC & Dr.Leela) seems to be well thought- out (but defined more through visual cues & motifs). The director has focused more on reflecting the "moments"(What happens) - of their love, togetherness and conflicts than elaborating their story(and the Whys).. These moments give a trajectory that's sinusoidal. The final culmination (climax) might seem out-of-place for many, but for me that an organic end (where the characters seem to resolve their conflicts within and with the other, and end-up together,at least that moment).. This movie is definitely a visual treat and will stand-out as a classic(though it doesn't appear so today)

P.S: If Karthi's(VC) acting has irritated you, then the character has achieved its purpose(the same goes with you ending up adoring Dr.Leela -Aditi).How these opposites connect is a phenomenon(you call it love or whatever) that's mystical, not logical.. And the movie just reflects that.