Kaatru Veliyidai - L'Étendue du Vent

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.

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.

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 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.

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.