Irony of fate for captured Indian pilot, his father

NEW DELHI: The capture of Indian pilot Abhinandan by Pak army actually makes him a character of a film his father was consultant for — Kaatru Veliyidai — where Pakistan captures hero Karthi (a pilot).

According to Indian media, Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s father Air Marshal S Varthaman was a consultant for the film Kaatru Veliyidai. The 2017 Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam starring Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari was about an IAF pilot being captured by Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil War.

In Kaatru Veliyidai, hero Karthi plays an IAF pilot whose plane is shot down and he is captured by the Pak Army during the 1999 Kargil War. He is taken as a prisoner of war and is shown to be tortured. In Pakistan custody, Varun begins thinking of his days with Leela, played by Aditi Rao Hydari in the film.

As India prays for the safe return of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the similarities between the reel and real situations are a little too stark. The irony? Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s father, Air Marshal S Varthaman, was a consultant for the Mani Ratnam film Kaatru Veliyidai.