Kaatru Veliyidai (English: Amidst the air) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romance film produced, written and directed by Mani Ratnam. Made under the Madras Talkies banner, it features music composed by A. R. Rahman, cinematography by Ravi Varman and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. The film stars Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead roles with Lalitha, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Delh

           

The film begins with a shot of the Kargil War showing the advances made by Indian soldiers. An Indian Air Force fighter jet is shot down by the enemy. The pilot Varun Chakrapani aka VC ( Karthi) ejects from the hit aircraft and lands in enemy territory. He is promptly surrounded and captured by the Pakistani army. He is imprisoned in the Rawalpindi prison as Prisoner of war and is subjected to regular torture. While being held captive, he turns to the memories of his time with his former love Leela (Aditi Rao Hydari).

Leela comes to Srinagar to work as a doctor. Meanwhile, VC encounters an accident while on a joy ride. He is brought in a critical condition to the hospital. With the duty doctor not available, Leela takes charge and treats VC and nurses him back to health. He then gets out of the hospital without her knowledge along with Ilyas Hussain (RJ Balaji). When Leela comes to know about it, she and Nidhi (Rukmini Vijayakumar) ask Illyas about it and he says all that he can do is only take them to the Air force meeting the following week and make them meet VC. VC proposes her for a date in a flight of that week's Saturday at 5.00pm. Leela goes there and they both enjoy the ride.

Meanwhile, VC gets to know that Leela is his course pilot Ravi Abraham's sister who died in a Flight which VC was supposed to go. Both develop feelings for each other. Later, Leela doesn't get to meet VC for 2 months and asks Illyas about VC. He says that VC is in a camp for 3 months at Leh Militarybase. Leela and Nidhi go to meet him. VC asks whether Leela came to meet him and she says that she wanted to see the place where Ravi died and also to meet him. He takes her and she slowly gets to know that VC has a different character other than the lovable one which she has seen. Back to the present, VC and two other Indians plan for an escape from the prison. Now, Leela leaves and he tells her that she'll get couriers from him. She gets so, some videotapes of VC proposing to her. One day, when she interferes with the discussion which the officers were doing about the attack, VC tells her that a female and male are made for their own purposes by god and she can't talk about these. But, she says that both are equal and women are not only to give birth. When she talks all about these, VC asks her to shut up when she says she can't, he asks her to do so as he says to do so. She gets angry and moves out. He goes to her home and tells her that she's all he's got and he loves her so much and that he's not like her, and she is way too higher than him as he kills and she saves. So, VC takes Leela to a local register office and tells her that they should marry. As she is not ready for it, he asks her to think about it and come the next day at 4.00 pm. He leaves to Delhi forgetting about this and she's upset over him as he treats her like a Queen as well as puts her down and smashes her.The next day, she tells him that she's pregnant and as he gets hesitant about it, she says that she'll take care and leaves. The following day, Leela's grandfather, Col. Mithran (Delhi Ganesh) dies and he goes there to her house where it is shown that Leela's father hates VC. That night he goes and tries to convince them, but he doesn't even get one word from them. The next day, when he's leaving for the Kargil war, Leela tells him that she's resigning and leaving Srinagar. He pleads for one more chance and leaves. Then he gets captured by Pakistan and put as a prisoner. By some way, VC and the two other prisoners escape and reach India.                                                                                                                                               

VC searches for Leela and after 3 years, he finds her and tells her that he's changed and that he's sorry for meeting her, loving her, hurting her and for everything. When he sees Leela's daughter, she asks him to find out whether the daughter looks like him or her for VC's pleasant surprise and is moved. VC tells his daughter that he just did come over 7 seas and 7 mountains to meet her. VC asks her why didn't she contact him, she says that she was afraid if he wouldn't like Leela or his daughter. They spend a moment of revelation with a hug and Leela says that Rohini (VC's daughter) is his responsibility from there on

After shelving a multi-cast project featuring Karthi and Dulquer Salmaan in the lead roles during December 2015, it was reported in the media that Mani Ratnam would instead work on a new film retaining Karthi as the lead actor and A. R. Rahman as the music composer and Ravi Varman as cinematographer.^[3][4] In February 2016, Karthi confirmed that he had signed on to play the lead role and would collaborate with the director twelve years after having worked with him as an assistant during the making of Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004). Mani Ratnam requested Karthi to lose weight through the CrossFit program and learn the basics of flying to portray the lead character of a pilot.^[5][3] He prepared for the role by understanding more about fighter pilots through a wing commander friend and analysed their typical fitness routine their body language. Karthi also was asked to sport a clean-shaven look as a part of his role and did so for the first time in his acting career.^[6][7] The start of the film was delayed as the team wanted to wait for a better climate, before beginning the shoot in Kashmir, while the team also chose to wait for Karthi to finish his commitments for the production of Kaashmora (2016).^[8] Sai Pallavi successfully auditioned for the leading female role of a doctor in the project and was signed on to make her debut as a lead actress in the Tamil film industry through the project.^[9] However, in April 2016, Mani Ratnam felt that the character had to be older and opted to leave Sai Pallavi out of the project, later replacing her with Aditi Rao Hydari.^[10] Hydari participated in Tamil lessons prior to the film's shoot, in order to improve her understanding of the script. She also worked in a hospital for a few days in order to get a better understanding of her role as a doctor.^[11][12]

Mani Ratnam and his team began location hunting in April 2016 to seek out replacements to resemble Kashmir and scouted areas including Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kodaikanal, Ooty and Coonoor.^[13] Meanwhile, Mani Ratnam also worked closely with music composer A. R. Rahman and lyricist Vairamuthu in finalizing seven songs for the film during the pre-production period.^[14] The rights to Faith Johnson's book Four Miles to Freedom was also bought by the team, as they looked to draw inspiration from the real-life incidents of Dilip Parulkar's escape from a Pakistani jail in 1971.^[15] Actors RJ Balaji and Delhi Ganesh joined the cast of the film in July 2016, while actress Shraddha Srinath revealed that she would feature in a small role as a brigadier's daughter.^[16] Kannada actor Harish Raj and Hindi actor Vipin Sharma also joined the first schedule of the film, making their debuts in the Tamil film industry.^[17][18] Likewise, actresses Lalitha and Rukmini Vijayakumar were signed up for roles during the film's initial schedule.^[19] The film's first look poster was revealed in early July 2016, with the title of Kaatru Veliyidai, inspired by a poem by Subramania Bharati, officially announced.^[20]

The shoot of the film began in early July 2016 in Nilgiris, Ooty with a twenty-day schedule featuring Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari. The location was chosen to show Kashmir on screen, as the latter's climate had made conducting shooting there difficult.^[21] Art director Amaran and production designer Sharmishta Roy worked together on designing the set during the first schedule, choosing to enhance existing backgrounds rather than to create lavish sets.^[22] The team regularly shot scenes from sunrise onwards, in order to ensure that the film progressed quickly.^[23] A second schedule for the film took place in Hyderabad during October 2016, lasting a period of ten days.^[24][25] The team then moved to Leh and the surrounding areas of Ladakh for a third schedule lasting fifteen days, with action sequences choreographed by Sham Kaushal being filmed.^[23][26] In late November 2016, the team moved to shoot scenes in, Siberia and the surrounding snow-capped mountainous regions after they were denied permission to shoot action sequences involving aircraft in North India. During the ten day schedule, the team also shot a romantic song in the snowy backdrop choreographed by Brindha.^[27] The shoot was concluded in mid-January 2017, with the team announcing that the post-production phase would take a couple of months.^[27][28][29]

At the time of its release, Kaatru Veliyidai garnered mixed reviews, though critics predominantly praised the performance of Aditi Rao Hydari along with A. R. Rahman's music and Ravi Varman's cinematography.^[34][35][36] Critic Baradwaj Rangan of FilmCompanion.in gave the film a high score of 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing "as a movie, Kaatru Veliyidai leaves you wanting, but as cinema, very little can come close to it". Rangan added "like some of Mani Ratnam’s recent films, Kaatru Veliyidai feels abstracted" and that the "director is in his mature phase" with "a little less obvious, little more complicated version of storytelling".^[37] Anupama Subramaniam of the Deccan Chronicle wrote "Mani Ratnam, known for his romantic tales with a different note, surprises you with a fresh angle again", noting that it was "a poetic romance that is worth experiencing", while drawing particular praise for the performances of Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari.^[38] A critic from DNA India noted that the film "does not disappoint" and that "to say that Mani portrays the lovers’ intense passion with a painter’s bold and indelible strokes would be no exaggeration", while similarly Rediff.com's Divya Nair called the film a "beautiful romance".^[39][40] Malini Mannath of The New Indian Express wrote that "Kaatru Veliyidai is visual treat where roses overpower guns" and that despite a few glitches, it is a "love poem on celluloid".^[41]

Sify.com's reviewer also praised the film stating "it is an experience you must enjoy", stating "if you like beautiful, intimate, playful, passionate love story in typical Mani Ratnam style then Kaatru Veliyidai is bang on".^[42] Vishal Menon of The Hindu wrote "there are reasons why Kaatru Veliyidai is certainly no classic", "but when you leave the theatre with a lump in your throat, you remember how your love for this director doesn’t arise merely because he makes you smile - he does so much more than that".^[43]Giving the film their highest score of 2017, Top10Cinema.com wrote "it’s a custom made film for Maniratnam buffs, who are very well etched up with his trademark pattern of storytelling" and that "he film has brilliant flash point of visual and musical poetry with some nuance performances too".^[44] In their review, Behindwoods.com wrote the film "is a classical poetic love story" and that "it is not a film to watch but something to experience, but an experience that not everyone would accept".^[45]

In contrast, Karthik Kumar of The Hindustan Times called the film "an underwhelming love saga", adding "visually, Kaatru Veliyidai is beautiful, beyond anyone’s imagination" but the film "does not move you emotionally".^[46] Suganth of the Times of India noted "the leads have charm, and try their best to make us care, but we are never as emotionally invested in the fate of VC and Leela as we should be", though wrote "the film is saved to an extent by the technical proficiency on display - right from Ravi Varman’s lush visuals to Rahman’s peppy score and Sharmishta Roy’s realistic sets, the film is a treat technically".^[47] The Bangalore Mirror's critic wrote "Kaatru Veliyidai eventually is one of Mani Ratnam’s weaker films and that’s disappointing, thankfully it is not a disaster like Kadal".^[48] Likewise, a critic from The Indian Express wrote "Kaatru Veliyidai flunks the test" and "what we are left with is a few moments in which Hydari impresses, the spectacular scenery, shot by Ravi Varman, and a couple of rousing song-and-dance numbers, powered by A R Rahman’s score".^[49]

The film took a strong opening at the Tamil Nadu box office, grossing over ₹120 million during the first weekend and performed exceptionally well in Chennai, Coimbatore and Chengalpattu.^[50][51] However mixed reviews from social media and the release of three new Tamil films the following weekend led to the number of shows being screened to drop substantially in the second week of its theatrical run.^[52] The film performed well at the US box office, with the Tamil version earning $313,227 and the Telugu version earning $79,787, during the opening weekend.^[53]