Kannathil Muthamittal

Mani Rathnam is seriously a World Class Talent. If he had been working in Western Countries he would be considered in the same league as Stanley Kubrick, Stephen Spielberg or Martin Scorsese.

With Kannathil Muthamittal ( A Peck on the Cheek) he has taken the two sensitive subjects of Adoption and the Civil War in Sri Lanka and linked them together to make a heart wrenching story.

The entire cast is superb. Special Mention should go to P.S. Keertana who acts like a veteran despite being so young. Simran and Nadita Das should also not be forgotten.

Mani Rathnam's directs as always with flair and purpose. He is not as flashy as in his other films but this suits the story.

Overall this is an excellent film. Mani Rathnam please make more films! Also hopefully he will soon get the international recognition he so richly deserves.

Mani Ratnam's 'Kannathil Muthamittal' is another of the movie from his 'political terror' series (along with films like 'Roja', 'Bombay' and 'Dil se'). It tells an intense story about 9 year old Amudha who, with the help of her adopted parents, seeks to find her birth mother in Sri Lanka. The movie is set with the backdrop of the civil war in Sri Lanka. With the help of the actors, Ratnam terrifically demonstrates the depth of the relationships between the adopt parents and the child. Their unconditional love for Amudha brings them all the way to war-driven and terror stricken villages in search for Amudha's answers. In a beautiful scene, even after being attacked and escaping a fatal encounter, Indra, for her daughter's satisfaction, bravely suggests without hesitation that they go to the park to check if Shama has arrived.

The cinematography is wonderful and the sets and the exotic locations are mindblowing. In addition to that there is A.R. Rahman's soulful score. I loved the songs, the title song being my favourite. The soundtrack reminds us Rahman's older music. I did not like how the last song was visualized on the father and daughter. It uses the clichéd meditation scenes, the Buddha statue (ridiculously positioned at different angles) and the typical monks-walking-at-the back. While many of the songs are beautiful, they look a little out of place. A question, why was Amudha so obsessed with finding her biological mother while she asks no questions regarding her biological father.

'Kannathil Muthamittal' boasts of some very strong performances. Simran delivers a beautifully understated performance who loves her daughter no matter what. Madhavan is sublime. His intensity and restraint prove what a skillful actor he is. Young actress P.S. Keerthana holds her own with these professional actors. The film centres around her and she does a fine job by pulling it off. Nandita Das is fabulous. Prakash Raj is irritating and his Sinhalese is all wrong.

Though 'Kannathil Muthamittal' revolves mainly around the Tamil people, the film is, in a way, arguably a bit partial as it shows how the war has affected the Tamil people in Sri Lanka without implying how this also had severely dangerous consequences for the non-Tamil Sri Lankan. Then again, the war is only a part of the film as 'Kannathil Muthamittal' is more about the unconditional love between two parents and their daughter.

This is another outstanding movie by Mani Ratnam before he went downhill with movies like 'Yuva' and 'Guru'.

Kannathil Muthamittal was simply one of the most touching and sincere movies ive seen in a long time. the story of an adopted girl who on her 9th birthday learns the truth about her parentage. she sets out in an endeavour to find out more about her real mother and learns that her mother is now a terrorist.

the greatness of the movie lies in its simplicity. mani ratnam generally has a tendency to create unreal and pompous overblown characters in this movie, every person seems real and their interactions are touching and sincere. this is the reason why this ranks as one of his best movies.

the movie is emotionally draining and tugs at the heart of the viewer, keerthana as the 9 year old amudha and simran as her adopted mother are simply brilliant. their relationship is the cornerstone of this movie. there are some notable flaws here, particularly the scene where amudha learns that she is an adopted child is jarring and seems totally unreal. it is hard to believe that such sensitive parents would break such a news in the manner that they did. another flaw is, surprisingly enough, the brilliant songs. they again seem forced and stand out, not gelling with the rest of the script.

having said these, this still is one of the most poignant and beautiful movies to come out of india in a long long time. this beauty is not just in the script or characters but in teh technical brilliance as well, ravi chandran's camera work is sheer poetry. all characters perform creditably and the realistic humour, especially in teh flashback scenes are entertaining.

a sincere 9!!

I am a big follower of Indian Movies especially Malayalam and Tamil.

Shame on India for not sending this movie as their official Oscar entry. I have seen this movie and it has clearly revealed to me the maturity Tamil cinema has in its screenplay and narrative which bollywood better catch up with.By the way to all we westerners, Tamil Cinema is more qualitative and very different from Bollywood which is all about good looks glamour and promotion.

Coming to the point what was India thinking when they sent a movie like 'Devdas' to the Oscars? That was a really a Masochist move. I think they are trying to punish Oscar judges with boredom by sending Devdas since the judges toppled Lagaan last year.

'Devdas' is just a brigthly colored but stale and predictable melodrama of Love, fate and destiny. I would keep away from it. Anyway, not sending a movie like Kanathil Muthital shows how much of a revamp Indian administration needs to save them from poor administrators who lack intelligence. Now I know why this country has so many issues. They are heavily talented but not showcased properly.

This movie was astonishing how good it was! The plot is extraordinary, and the acting spectacular. At first I thought this wasn't going to be that great because of a summary, but after about the first five or ten minutes of the movie, it struck me that I was dead wrong. I literally cried about four or five times in this movie, and despite this, I must've watched the same scenes over and over again about thirty times in one week! No, the song scenes were not as awesome as they could've been, but the plot is what really gets you. American or Asain, I would recommend this to anyone--and I have now. I guarantee that after seeing this one, you'll get the best out of it, and its plot. I hope you feel the same, and write a rave review too!