Perhaps the film is an attempt to empathise with the abuser — to figure out the relationship between a broken man and a woman who wants to fix the brokenness. When there is no doubt that VC is troubled, a passing (patchy, random, extremely brief) family experience highlights the troubled relationship between VC and his father, who is also an abuser. Yet, in all the times that we witness VC humiliating the doe-eyed Leela in front of his friends, physically hurting her or emotionally manipulating her, there is an undertone of a grand romance.

- Read a critique of Mani Ratnam's film Kaatru Veliyidai