Kaatru Veliyidai exaggerated? Not at all, says Mani’s team!

One of Tamil cinema’s most eagerly awaited films, Kaatru Veliyidai, which features Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead, released last Friday the world over. Prior to its release, the film had raised expectations as it was directed by Mani Ratnam and had music by A R Rahman. However, not everybody who watched the film was entirely pleased with it.

A section of the audiences were very impressed with what they saw, while another section wasn’t impressed at all. Needless to say, a few online reviewers had put forth the opinion that some of the film’s sequences appeared artificial or exaggerated. To substantiate their point, most such reviewers had cited the sequence in which Karthi’s character escapes from a Pakistani prison with two other inmates.

Now, director Mani Ratnam’s team has countered this view of the reviewers by stating that the sequence is actually based on a true story.

Yes, the unit members say the sequence is actually based on a true incident.

Says a source, “The sequence is based on Flight Lieutenant Dilip Parulkar’s escape from a Pakistani prison. Parulkar’s plane was shot down over Pakistan on December 10, 1971. However, Parulkar escaped with Malvinder Singh Grewal and Harish Sinhji from a POW camp in Rawalpindi on August 13,  1972. Four Miles To Freedom is their story.”