Katru Veliyidai Review: Mani Rathnam buries his plot in the Himalayan ice and lets us search for it

Pic Courtesy: Google

It is ironical that the greatest screen writer-filmmaker of our generation is also, in his own words, a commercial movie director. Mani Rathnam never hides that. In fact he embraces it. His characters always comes across as suave and sophisticated and yet after this particular offering, one wonders if he ever thought that his audience could be the same. Beyond the breathtaking visuals, poetic music, Bharathiyar and all the love is a plot that Mani buries deep in the snow and we end up wandering the barren tundra searching for it.

Set in the back drop of the mighty Himalayas during the Kargil War of 1999, Katru Veliyidai follows the love story of Varun, a life taking fighter pilot and Leela, a life saving doctor. The opposites doesn’t end there. He is narcissistic while she bats for treating women equality or at the very least, recognition. They argue at every level and yet couldn’t shake off their love for each other. All this make up for a fascinating story that could have been told with arguments that would shake up the very make up of this society. But Mani lets everything loose with an unpredictable screenplay that changes like the Kashmiri weather.

In a world where the line between black and white is increasingly blurry, Mani is able to conceive a ‘hero’ who in the words of his girl “either treats me like a princess or walk over me”. Yet, he does recognize what is making him less of a man and wants to make amends. But how many chances will he get from a girl who is stunning, confident and intense. She falls for his charm but is mature enough to understand his flaws and yet couldn’t control herself from falling in love with him over and over again. Does she take his promises to change blindly? There is strength in her character but for how long? How is she able to forgive his abusive manners just like that? In the end, the answer is Love. However old the notion sounds, there is no other tangible explanation for both behaving the way they do and yet end up they way they did. It is in fact Love where, along with the other plot carrier War, everything is fair.

For an actor of Karthi’s talents this isn’t the most difficult character to pull off but after Paruthiveeran and Madras, this is his finest performance. However, the real revelation is Aditi Rao Hydari. The struggling Bollywood actress could have permanently sealed a place in the south putting her heart and soul to a role that could very well add some trophies to her cabinet during the next award season. R J Balaji’s role was pretty close to his one word summary of his meeting with Mani Rathnam for the part, “Nice”.

You could see why Mani chose Kashmir and Kargil as his conduits to tell this story, The ever changing landscape of the region and the circumstances of war makes for the perfect metaphor. Yet in some ways, it also lets you forget the fundamental flaws in the movie’s writing. You get a sense of climbing Mt. Everest and yet had to return before the Hillary step. So Close! Ravi Varman’s cinematography blends so closely with the story and Rahman is as majestic with his music as the mountain itself.

Why Mani Rathnam left the questions unanswered is anybody’s guess. But the impact those questions have on you could very well be what he intended. And therein lies his genius. Leaving some things to audience’s interpretation is what any intelligent director would do but the desired effect happens only if the plot is thick and the writing strong. It is those areas that Katru Veliyidai falls short. The air is thin as you climb. Again, a metaphor!