Chennai: As irony would have it, IAF pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s father air marshal Simhakutty Varthaman was the consultant for the Mani Ratnam movie Kaatru Veliyidai. The film plot revolves around the story of a fighter pilot captured in Pakistan.

The 2017 film starts with images of the Kargil War during which an IAF fighter jet is shot down by the enemy. The pilot Varun Chakrapani aka VC (Karthi) ejects from the aircraft and lands in enemy territory and is surrounded by the Pakistani Army. They imprison him in Rawalpindi as a PoW and subject him to torture. While being held captive, he reminisces about his romance with Leela (Aditi Rao Hydari).

It might appear as if fiction has become fact to haunt the air marshal, a recipient of the PVSM, as his son has become a PoW today in Pakistan. The Varthaman family resides in Madambakkam, near the Tambaram, IAF station from where both father and son have taken off many times. Air marshal Varthaman refused to speak to mediapersons, asking them not to contact him regarding his son’s capture.

The military establishment had decided to keep the family insulated from unwelcome visitors, dropping in for ‘sharing concern and offering prayers’ but ending up adding to the family's anxiety.