Kaatru Veliyidai
Director Maniratnam’s latest film is not even half poetic as its title.the name Mani Ratnam is a brand when it comes to dealing with emotions and relationships. With a premise that offers so much to score on both, Kaatru Veliyidai falls flat.
Film is mostly set In an intense period before Kargil war ( which could only be realised during the title card) and is about love between fighter jet pilot Varun( Karthi) and Doctor Leela ( Aditi) .
Character of Karthi as Varun is one the most complex and confusing among Maniratnam’s men. His mood swings are rapid, abrupt and one can never guess what’s next. Hard to accept such a character in any level. Karthi tries to fit in to the character but clearly he struggles to do so. Right from the first scene Varun never seems to care about a serious relationship. So we cld never sympathise for him while he goes thru a tough phase.
Aditi Rao is the only right choice in the entire cast. Aditi is fresh as such she is straight out of a fridge ?? and perfect in her role of a troubled lover who is always in the receiving end of Karthi’s wrath. rest of the cast is totally unconvincing, RJ Balaji is one of the biggest joke of Kaatru Veliyidai he is clueless whenever he is on screen and that evokes unintentional laughs ?? family of Karthi shown as tamil loving people are another rude joke ??
Scenes about Karthi’s escape from a Pakistan prison is a shame. Tortures of a war prisoner could have been shown better. Karthi and co escape from prison like students bunking classes. Just have a recap of Arvind Swamy’s struggle to escape from a militant camp in Roja . seems those days are gone now.
Maniratnam’s class can be seen very rarely in Kaatru Veliyidai, one such scene is where Karthi meets Aditis family and other when Karthi takes Aditi for a air ride. we can see glimpses of Mani Magic in those scenes.
Cinematography by Ravi Varman is the biggest saving grace of the movie. Every single frame is beautiful.snowfall in Leh are filmed like a dream. Rahman’s Bgm is good at few places.
A Good Love story should make an audience wish that the couple unite in the end. that never happens in Kaatru Veliyidai, could never connect with such complex characters.whenever there is a conflict, out of nowhere Aditi brings a feminism thought in to play and this film is filled with many such unconvincing factors.
This is a beautiful Bore .
Rating : 2/5