Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek)

After watching Raavanan I had to see an actual Mani Ratnam movie to remind myself how great his movies are. And I decided to watch Kannathil Muthamittal.

It’s a story of a young girl, Amudha (P.S. Keerthana) who on her ninth birthday learns that she is an adopted daughter. She was adopted by a popular Tamil writer Thiruchelvan (R. Madhavan) and Indira (Simran). For a child that shatters her entire sense of security, her identity and her world view. She feels herself alienated from the family and tries to run away from home to try and find her birth mother. Finally her father promises that he will help her find her birth mother.

Amudha was born to Shyama (Nandita Das) and Dileepan. While pregnant, due to the strife torn state of Sri Lanka, Shyama came to Rameshwaram to give birth to Amudha. After the baby is born Shyama however chose to go back. Thiruchelvan writes a story fictionalizing the inner turmoil of Shyama who left her new born to go back to a devastated homeland. While writing the story he sees the baby and wants to adopt her. However the law does not permit a single man to adopt and he asks his neighbor, Indira who also likes him to marry him and adopt Amudha.

Meanwhile Amudha runs away to Rameshwaram where she learns that that her mother was from Sri Lanka. Keeping his promise, her parents take her to Sri Lanka where Dr. Herold Vikramsinghe (Prakash Raj) helps them. Throughout this while Amudha refuses to listen to Indira, dreaming about her real mother. Mani Ratnam has beautifully depicted the chaos and pathos of the war torn Sri Lanka. The rest of the story moves with Amudha and her parent trying to get to the Tamil heartland to find Shyama.

A beautiful and poignant story exploring various facets of human relationships against the backdrop of war and strife… All aspects of the film are very sensitively handled. A child’s dilemma and resulting stubbornness, a mother’s helplessness and love, a father willing to go to any length for his child, a writer trying to make sense out of the world around him…the movie takes you on a journey and you identify in one way or the other with each character. The best thing about the movie is the way Mani Ratnam builds up the character so much so that the act of Thiru taking his wife and daughter to a place where war can erupt any minute seems natural. You know that this is his philosophy of life; to do what he believes is right. The honesty with which all characters are portrayed is what makes this movie a treat.

As far as performances go, every one of them is outstanding. Amudha tugs at your heart every time she comes on screen. You cry with Indira and her love for her child is palpable. Madhavan has outdone himself in his portrayal of the father and the writer. I loved the songs and the music especially the title track. Ravi Chandran’s cinematography is breathtaking and the editing of the movie is very crisp yet the movie flows.

(Must Watch)

Calcutta News

Ajith (Dileep) is a news reporter for one of the news channel in Calcutta. He lives with his mother and two sisters. One day the channel gets the news of a dead body found near the river. On seeing the dead man, Ajith realizes that he had seen the same man sometime earlier with a young girl, perhaps his wife, and they are also malayalee. Ajith who had recorded a small video of the couple on his mobile feels personally involved and sets out to search for the girl. They soon learn that a malayalee girl was found locked in a room with some head injuries. Ajith realizes it’s the same girl and meets her. The girl Krishna Priya (Meera Jasmine) finds some solace on seeing Ajith since she only speaks Malayalam.


Ajith takes her to identify her husband’s body where she breaks down and admits that she is an orphan from Kerala and just married Hari a few days earlier and came to Calcutta. Ajith and crew realize from her story that the husband was a crook involved in sex racket and was planning to sell Krishna Priya to a one arm guy who is involved in trafficking.

Initially shattered and suicidal, Krishna Priya gets better when she stays with some colleagues of Ajith. She is a beautiful singer and Ajith tries to get her some opportunities to showcase her talent. Ajith also takes her to a psychiatrist who helps in her treatment. The two eventually fall in love.

Meanwhile the ‘one arm’ villain kidnaps Krishna Priya and Ajith and his colleagues go to the red light district and bring to light the squalor and abject poverty in which the women live. All ends well as CM sends a rescue mission on seeing the story on TV.

The best bit about the movie is undoubtedly Meera Jasmine. She has played the character of innocent, lively Krishna Priya with utmost finesse. Dileep is passable though I found his expressions quite foolish and boring.

The movie starts on a very promising note, with enough mystery to keep you glued. But later he loses his grip and the hitherto realistic story becomes a cheap melodrama. The issue is that (and I saw Blessy doing the same in Bhramaram) when you take a real story, at all points you have to keep it grounded and logical. If you have to make a fantasy then see “Mr. India” and create a villains like “Mogambo”. Don’t mix the two genres. It’s as if somewhere while directing, Blessy realized that his movie was too offbeat and decided to make it more commercial.

Interesting story which goes awry. You can watch it for Meera Jasmine though.

(Can Watch)

Gramaphone

I recently saw this Malayalam movie starring Dileep, Meera Jasmine and Navya Nair. Sachi (Dileep) is the son of a great singer who is no more. Burdened by a legacy he never cared to inherit Sachi juggles between multiple jobs to make ends meet for his family. In addition he also takes care of his father’s friends who were a part of his orchestra. They are all friends with Jenny, a local Jew and one of the few families still living in Cochin. Jenny’s father wants her to marry a boy who will take all of them back to Israel. Jenny and Sachi like each other but are too stuck in their worlds to be able do something about it.

Pooja (Navya Nair) is the daughter of a singer whose importance in the movie I never really understood. Pooja becomes good friends with Jenny when she starts working at the same hotel Jenny works. Meanwhile there’s Jenny's Aunt Sarah (Revathy) who refuses to leave the room she has shut herself in. Though never explicitly mentioned we get to learn that Sarah was in love with Sachi’s father, the singer, but for her dad’s insistence on marrying a Jew, who could take them to Israel, could never get together with Sachi’s dad.

Another angle in the story is that though Sachi is a brilliant singer and musician, he refuses to acknowledge it because he believes that all musicians are corrupt and base.

So as you can already see there are too many angles in the movie. I don't quite understand the story that the director wants to tell. The thing in having too many characters is that you have to bring all of their stories, however unique or mundane, to a logical conclusion. And add to it they should all connect somehow. This is where the script writer and director fail miserably. The movie is all over the place.

I don’t think that whatever the actors did could have salvaged the movie.

(Can Skip)