Rajeev M
the worst story so far of actor Karthik, felt sleepy
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
05/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Kaatru Veliyidai - 9/10. Mani Ratnam is my favourite tamil cinema director, and he is always ahead of the times in terms of his directing style and story telling. Kaatru Veliyidai is a perfect example of a love story film that tamil audiences didn't accept due to its against the grain story progression. Rather than following the traditional path of showing a couple going through trials and tribulations, Ratnam goes against type and shows the devastating progression of an emotionally abusive man towards his lover. As he spends time as a POW, he remembers this love and his horrible behaviour towards her. Rather than making the character so dashing and charismatic, Ratnam crafts Karthi into a manipulative and possessive asshole, and he plays the character brilliantly. People might have trolled his wide eyed looking scenes, but it brilliantly showed the character's animalistic behaviour and mindset in trying to have things go his way. Aditi Rao Hydari gives probably one of the best performances in Mani Ratnam's filmography. She delivers a beautiful and coldly haunting portrayal of a women in love with an emotionally absent man, and her conflicting emotions of trying to leave and stay with him is just so powerful. I'm glad Ratnam helped showcase her acting abilities in this movie, and Ravi Varman helped showcase not only her incredible beauty, but also the beauty of the locations the film was shot at. Its some of the greatest cinematography in tamil cinema history. A.R. Rahman goes into god mode every time he works with Ratnam, and this film is no exception. His soundtrack and BGMs in this movie are just so incredible and so exquisite, they really help elevate the story and vibe of the movie. He understands what Ratnam was going for, and delivers more than what was asked for. This movie is so different from the usual love stories we see and it feels more real. I personally know a lot of people who go through toxic relationships, and this movie accurately portrays those types of relationships. Its refreshing a film explores these types of relationships, especially in a tamil cinema obsessed with showing toxic relationships as one side being a psycho.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/16/23
Full Review
Audience Member
At first watch, the movie was boring and ending was cliched. Only the spellbinding music and cinematography were captivating. But on repeat viewing, it's more rewarding than it seems.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
At first watch, the movie was boring and ending was cliched. Only the spellbinding music and cinematography were captivating. But on repeat viewing, it's more rewarding than it seems.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A love story with not a perfect relationship!
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
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Well shot film but not the best from Mani Ratnam
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
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