User reviews

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.

Kaatru Veliyidai / Cheliyaa (2017) : I never believe in such thing called Love these days because I never found a charming and true love like shown in Mani Ratnam's films.He is the only director who can make a perfect poetic love story with memorable cute performances,soulful music and stunning visuals.There is no such director like Mani Ratnam who can make movies like an artistic painting.He scored a memorable hit with OK Kanmani last year and this year he brought us another love story Kaatru Veliyidai starring Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari.Music by A.R.Rahman is already a chart buster and trailer raised expectations.Did the movie reach it??

Plot:

The story of the film is set during the Kargil war of 1999 where doctor Leela(Aditi Rao Hydari) falls in love with a fighter pilot named Varun(Karthi). The romance is kindled right away but Varun's commitment phobic attitude keeps pushing Leela away from the relationship.The twist in the tale arises when Karthi is jailed in Pakistan because of the tense war situation. Rest of the story is as to how Karthi frees himself from Pakistan and wins his love all over again.

Plus Points:

1)Aditi Rao Hydari: Aditi Rao Hydari is a show stealer with her wonderful performance.She looks drop dead gorgeous as Mani Ratnam has showcased her in a never before seen way. Aditi's emotional performance is the backbone of the film as she delivers in both the glamor and acting departments.Her eyes twinkle in delight, twitch in anxiety and pale in fear and anger.Karthi gave a great performance too but Aditi overshadowed each and every other actor in this film.

2)Cinematography: Ravi Varman is a world class painter whose painting brush is camera and world is his canvas.Full marks to Ravi Varman for his spectacular cinematography. The snowcapped mountains, the silhouette featuring Karthi and all the song sequences are shot beautifully.Especially a scene where our heroine comes out of house to watch air crafts is one of the most visually stunning scene of the year.Another scene where Karthi and his companions escape from military and run with joy,that scene is captured stunningly.We have lot of such stunning visuals throughout the movie.

3)Music: Ratnam-A R Rahman chemistry of 25 years is unbeatable and inseparable.Like all his albums,Kaatru Veliyidai has soulful music but mostly in poetic way..Vaan Varuvaan is an instant classic and best song of this year.Azhagiye is foot tapping brilliant.But what I didn't;t know is about song Nallai Allai.That song is awesome and really captured the feel.

4)Dialogues: Mani Ratnam films do not have any path breaking or award winning dialogues but still there are lot of fans for his work.They are most realistically beautiful and make us fall in love with movie.But overuse of poetic language may not suit all.

Minus Points:

1)Lack of required emotion in crucial scenes: Mani Ratnam succeeded in bringing out 100% output from all the departments like acting,music,cinematography,settings but forgot to bring his best output.This movie lacked the emotion especially in crucial scenes like their conflicts and failed to create any patriotic feel in serious scenes.

So,Kaatru Veliyidai is a best proof about Mani Ratnam's brilliance in bringing out best output from all his departments but failed in bringing his best.

My rating 7.25/10

After the trailer and promos indeed it made me feel like this movie is gonna be amazing. But I was completely disappointed when I left the theatre. I know it will be slow and it's all about love. But I never knew there would be no story in this movie. This is not a review. Check others reviews if you want to know about this movie. I want to talk about what went wrong in this film. The audience these days do not want love films. That's the main thing. They definitely expect good songs. But they don't want an entire film to deal with romance. Comedy and thriller films have been doing well in tamil cinema. Mani Ratnam made the bench mark films for the all the present day directors but this film would have been better if the content in the film did not just deal with romance and rather something else. We all entered the theatre not for the sake of Karthi(even though he is good actor) but we went in to see the work Mani ratnam has done in this. I'm not comparing this to his previous works cause I hate comaprison but this as a whole film did not satisfy anyone cause it does not engage or connect well with the audience mindset. People should either relate a film to something that has happened or should probably learn about something that the movie maker wants to convey. That's how its working today. Anyhow. We all know what kind of director is Mani Ratnam. He was the best always. Maybe not this time. I'm sure his next film will satisfy all his fans and make his haters shatter.

Ps....Mani Ratnam said in an interview that he would love to have a full bound script from others and make that into a film. Probably it's high time he tries that.

My take on Kaatru Veliyidai : (press see more / read more to read my complete review )

One of this year's expected movie kaatru veliyidai has all the elements that you would expect from a Maniratnam's movie yet it is not the usual smitten by romance type of flick. This time the director has featured a love story that's intense at the same time intriguing.

The love story of a hard Air Force fighter pilot Varun aka VC essayed by Karthi sivakumar who is super stiff , dominant, chauvinistic by character. The female lead Leela played by Aditi Rao who is a doctor she is simple grounded yet expects equality when it comes to a relationship.

With this contrast what else to expect in a Mani's movie they fall for each other and goes head over heels and slowly develops the crack and the usual fights and intense romance ballets goes on. Though seems clichéd the screenplay makes the difference.

First half of the film is a bit light but filled with heaviness of Rahmanism every single no of this album is a pleasure to ears. Second half gets more of a destructive love genre inter woven with times of Kargil Kashmir, prison life.

The supporting cast though was strong which includes Delhi Ganesh Rukumani RJ Balaji and KAPC Lalitha. They weren't having a big scope nor created an impact. It was an out and out Karthi-Aditi romance duo.

Performances side Aditi was pleasing with her looks which resembles a bit of Aishwarya Rai and some times like an re incarnated Shobhana. She has pulled this character perfect portraying maturity. Karthi on the looks side a bit out of sync but scores towards the second half.

The movie struggles with a bit of pace issues and predictability. VFX was another let down. Some might feel clichéd.

Overall get in for an intense romance ride with breath taking taking visuals through the lens of Ravi Varman intertwined with a soul tingling BGM and music by ARR. I am sure you will walk out satisfying if you are a Mani fan.

-Reviewed by Sivakumar Balachandran.

Summary (no spoilers)

This movie is set during the Kargil war, fighter pilot Varun remembers his romance with Leela while being held prisoner in Pakistan.

My Review (no spoilers)

The plot of this movie is the same as the movies written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The same kind of romance and all the characters related to it. Still I felt Aditi Rao Hydari did an exceptional acting she had the perfect chemistry but Karthi is still stuck with his usual retard acting. It had some scenes stolen from English movies such as "The Shawshank Redemption" . Nothing interesting with the songs of this movie none of them was catchy. The ending of this movie was predictable and boring. Overall this movie had the potential to be good but failed miserably.

My Recommendation

No, I would not recommend this movie to anyone.

My Rating

0/10

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.

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

The movie was very bad. Nobody acted in the movie. Even the BGM and Songs were not good. Can't watch the film as it is so boring. The story was very bad in the movie.

***Disclaimer*** ***This is my personal opinion, not to hurt anybody, if it has done so in even a single instance on anybody, please accept my Sincere Apologies***

Love is in the air, just breathe it to your heart,mind,body and soul. This is the plot I felt as.An Indian fighter pilot(vc - karthi) and a civilian doctor(dl - aditi)falls hmm rather flies high above in Love. Vc is bit arrogant n self loving on the other dl is very caring n comfort seeking. Starts with vc getting caught as a pow by Paks officer's. Then vc in prison narrates/runs through his past life n his Love with dl. Scenes of first meet,love,anger and love and sorrrry takes us thru a Love coaster. During narration vc plans an escape plot runs to Afghan border then Indian embassy takes charge of him from Afghan officials with AirForce rituals & honours him, put him back on where he belongs. Then the Climax in Mani Sir's style winds up the furious yet breezy ride... ***** +++ve ***** -The Direction/Screenplay are stunning -Visuals are breathe taking, Master class DOP -BGM at its Himalayan peak, gets us to the mood in a blink -Choreo is worth a big applause - non cinematic at many places -The suttle humour, vc's humour on Serious takes are dayuuum -I think I don't remember any Airforce related movie with so much detailing into it in terms of getting us where we have to be -How many times does this man-Mani sir - takes movie of Romance genre??? My God he is really a God of Romance. I've never felt even in a single instance that a scene neither a feel has been experienced earlier, sooo much is the narration of this Man.

***** ---ve ***** Pregnancy before Wed Lock. Good or Bad I ain't know. In his terms he is just reflecting the Society. Lets not go much into it...

Climax- I think we need to be more citure(cinema Mature) enough to understand this Movie. All you gotta do it not to Watch this rather Breathe this Movie.

Its worth a million tons of anything...

I don't understand why this film got many negative reviews perhaps they thought this film portrays Lust in the name of love.This film portrays both that's why I called it "A story of Passionate love".A love between two almost opposite characters who wants enjoy love and sexual pleasures but not prepared for Family life and it's responsibilities.The psychological differences between the two main characters were well portrayed. Karthi suits his role when he plays "Rough" Character but his facial expressions irritated me during romantic scenes.Mani's Heroines are usually well educated,independent and adorable. Dr.Leela (Aditi) is an addition to this list. Aditi did a good job there. I was surprised to see RJ Balaji in Dr'Ilyas Hussain's role.As usual visuals were eye pleasing and I enjoyed them very much.Songs were good.I was disappointed that Mani was trying to normalize premarital sexual relationships.I'm aware premarital sexual relationship is increasing in India and SriLanka but portraying those as culturally "Normal" is unacceptable.

Both actors have good potential but they are not used in right condition.

This movie really confuses you why Karthi is doing all these exaggerated stuff on screen.

For example:- There is a scene where the humiliation is faced by adhiti from Karthi, the director want to convey that love also exist even after a little fight because it's true love but the blunder happens when more than 3 to 4 scene contain the same point of humiliation stuff , it literally make you to think 🤔 us this point needs to be exaggerated this much.

Sometimes you can also feel like Karthi is intentionally hurting her. The same thing happens in proving the point that men and women are equall. You can feel that Karthi is pilot he will be known such social things that women and men are equall not to exaggerat here.

Finally it's just one time watchable movie that.

There is a line between portraying an abusive relationship as problematic, and showing it as glorious. Prisoner of war VK (Karthi) reminisces about his romance with an army hospital doctor, Leela (Aditi Rao), while plotting his return to India. The film, mostly told in flashback, is an endless array of abusive segments pegged as somehow romantic and indicative of the intensity of the fighting man. With each missed warning signal of "Run, Leela, Run" the educated, independent doctor is endeared more and more by the egregious excesses of her fighter pilot suitor. If relationship abuse were were required to be flagged with a written warning accompanying the scene (as the Indian government requires for scenes with characters drinking or smoking), the film would have a second layer of subtitles. The only mildly redeeming feature of the film is the locales, which Mani Ratnam's films are known for, though they scarcely do much to assuage the unwitting unfolding of the portrait of an acid attacker as a young man. The screenplay mainly consists of seven or short-film like sequences of bizarre behavior, offset by a momentary apology and close-up shots of the protagonist's pained face, to set up the next. There is no real plot development or dive into the characters, which even the lovers of the MGR model of macho screen romance would find hard to empathize with. The best scene in the film is when a paunchy character actor dies, and is stuffed into a coffin at best designed for a svelte fashion model, leaving the audience to rue the scriptwriter editing away the compelling scene in which his arms would need to be sawed off to fit the grave. That scene was only saved by its irrelevance to the plot.

A self-centred macho fighter pilot;

An angelic, bold, yet, thoroughly smitten army doctor;

Kashmir on the brink of Kargil war;

A cinematographer (Ravivarman) who captures the snow-capped peaks, drab mountainscapes, colourful weddings and intimate indoor shots in spectacular visuals which are breathtaking in equal measure;

The Mozart of Madras bringing his A game and delivering aces;

A turbulent romance which has the potential for being a mature and captivating drama;

A master auteur who despite relying on several of his time-tested template tropes can present them in a refreshing manner that few could manage;

Sounds like the perfect recipe for an epic romance... Right ...?

Alas... If only life was so predictably rewarding...

Aditi Rao Hydari gets it pitch perfect across the entire spectrum of her emotional journey as Dr. Leela with just the right notes of confidence, madness, love and vulnerability. She is all grace and glows (perhaps, a tad too much) in every single frame in resplendent manner.

Karthi brings in a valiant performance as the cocky, self-centered fighter pilot who could oscillate unpredictably between the extremes of a romantic to a ruthless, even cruel, chauvinist with smirk in those aviator shades. However, one could sense an undercurrent of unease in his portrayal of VC as if it is not a perfect match or perhaps, he couldn't convince himself of pulling this off.

One feels something is amiss and is lost in the process of translation from the written words to the wow-inducing visuals. The evolution of the romance as well as the character arcs, especially Karthi's is unconvincing and as a result, you are not connected to the characters or care for them, as you should.

Further, the entire stretch of scenes set in Pakistan appear contrived despite some well written voice-overs.

Ultimately, the movie could neither stir the emotions in you nor soar into the pantheon of great movies.

By the time the credits start rolling, it leaves you in a breathtakingly beautiful, albeit, an empty breezy expanse (kaatru veliyidai) - seeking more even as you find it is just a middling venture that has gone with the wind.

All that glitters...

Aditi Rao Hydari, made a brief cameo in Rockstar, it was rocking, needs to live up to those expectations.

Sure the visuals were stunning, music overrated.

Otherwise not a movie, it's not fun, plot doesn't make any sense, a total waste.

Even Karthi has potential with his range of expressions, and realistic appeal.The writing is shambles, making it a tiresome watch.

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.

It's just like how Zemeckis made Allied. A great director decides to make a love story in a military backdrop. The story is nothing new and the characters take some or many stupid decisions. The actors are so gorgeous to look at. Technically it has high standards with great visuals and music that keeps you invested. At the end it's not much but you can't hate the film.

On a rewatch it is actually worser, great visuals and music in Maniratnam style but you never relate to the main characters. Even the love story isn't convincing in a film helmed by Maniratnam!!!

People need to watch twice to understand the beauty of this film...VC is not the typical boyfriend portrayed in movies as perfect hero...he is what he is... he's flawed and unpredictable.. .karthi portrayed the role very well... aditi rao hydari is graceful in the film ...songs are too good and cinematography is top notch....bgm throughout the film and in end credits is extraordinary... escape scenes from Pakistan to Afghanistan are directed well... songs picturization is good... everything about this film is good.

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.

THIS IS MY PERSONAL REVIEW!!!!!!!!!

THEY VERY GOOD IN THEATERS AND THE CAMERA IS SO FASCINATING. EVERYONE SHOULD LOVE IT. AWESOME MOVIE AND HATS OFF TO MANI RATNAM SIR.Mani sir shows the angry man into a matured man.Mani sirs dialogues gave chances to taste Tamil.Totally the movie is a true love feeling movie.My God he is really a God of Romance. I've never felt even in a single instance that a scene neither a feel has been experienced earlier, so much is the narration of this Man.ONE THING IS IN FIRST HALF IT SHOULD BE SHOWN MORE STRUGGLE OF THE HERO.