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Kannathil Muthamittal
Reviewer's Summary - Lovely
Language: Tamil
Year: 2002
Actors: Madhavan, Simran, P.S.Keerthana, Nandita Das, Prakash Raj
Director: Maniratnam
Producer: Maniratnam, G.Srinivasan
Music: A.R.Rehman
Story: Maniratnam
Screenplay: Maniratnam
Dialogs: Sujhata
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Kannathil Muthamittal is one of the finest Tamil movies we've seen in a long time.
A treat for the eyes and ears, Kannathil Muthamittal is a delightful pause in the endless run of bad Tamil movies.
A strong, unusual story coupled with fine acting sets the stage for a wonderful time in front of the screen.
In Kannathil Muthamittal, director Maniratnam has woven a fine tale of the various dimensions of the human tragedy caused by the decades-long civil war in neighboring Sri Lanka.
Built on the strong scaffolding of a solid story, the narrative never sags.
When Thiru (Madhavan) and Indra (Simran) break the news to their daughter Amudha (P.S. Keerthana) on her ninth birthday that she is an adopted child unlike her brothers, they are not prepared for what comes next.
Shocked to hear the news, the young girl runs away from home twice. When she returns, she tells her parents that she wants to meet her biological mother and find out the circumstances behind her abandoning at a refugee camp in Rameshwaram.
Soon, Thiru, Indra and Amudha are headed for a small village in Sri Lanka to locate Amudha's biological mother Shyama.
The visit to Sri Lanka turns out to be traumatic for the whole family. Sri Lanka has been engulfed in a civil war since 1983 and Kannathil Muthamittal shows a country that's in chaos.
Caught in the crossfire between the army and the rebels, Indra is shot and has a close shave with death. Amudha also witnesses a suicide bomber throwing himself at a military convoy.
When it seems that the family has had enough and will return to India without meeting Amudha's biological mother Shyama, the meeting actually takes place in a park that has witnessed considerable destruction.
One of the high points of Kannathil Muthamittal, the meeting between Amudha and her biological mother Shyama casts in a sharp light the tragedies that war wreaks at the individual and family level.
Although Madhavan and the young girl P.S.Keerthana have turned in fine performances, it's Nandita Das who steals the show - despite a much smaller role - with a virtuoso performance. Simran is all right but the lass is just not as good as the others.
Music director A.R.Rehman has cast a spell on us with the title song Kannathil Muthamittal. - Copyright SearchIndia.com.
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