Watch Kannathil Muthamittal For Free
Kannathil Muthamittal
A little girl is told by her parents that she is adopted. Determined to find her birth mother, her family eventually agrees to take her to Sri Lanka, where they encounter the militant group known as the Tamil Tigers.
Release : | 2002 |
Rating : | 8.3 |
Studio : | Madras Talkies, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Director of Photography, |
Cast : | P. S. Keerthana R. Madhavan Simran Nandita Das Delhi Kumar |
Genre : | Drama War |
Watch Trailer
Cast List
Related Movies
Reviews
The Worst Film Ever
The Age of Commercialism
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Maniratnam, who in India, is often compared with prominent world film makers and is regarded a genius in film-making, has yet again proved that he can only make the frames look visually good, without offering much food for thought.Forget about pure cinematic pleasure that can be derived from cinema as a very old form of art.While I would not like to claim and portray myself as someone who has seen all the beautiful movies made around the world, still any thoughtful and a bit educated film goer can identify that his films do not contain innovative ingenuous plots, does not contain lingering effects afterward and MOSTLY contain ridiculous ending and a LOT of melodrama, seen profusely in Indian movies.Overall, Maniratnam has successfully confirmed my distaste for his films once again.Sorry for those who on this board were claiming otherwise. My suggestion to you: WATCH SOME BEAUTIFUL CINEMAS MADE AROUND THE GLOBE.
Touching Bollywood epic melodrama about a 10 year-old girl who finds out that she's adopted, and is determined to find her birth mother. The film's major success is the performance of P.S. Keerthana, who plays the girl. The first half of the film is very good. There are a few really good songs, too, especially the number that introduces the protagonist. Unfortunately, the film's second half, which takes place in war-torn Sri Lanka, feels like an entirely different, and disappointing movie. It's big on explosions and special effects, with Sri Lankan soldiers and rebels dodging grenades, running from fireballs, and being yanked by stunt wires. All the film can offer as insight are cheap platitudes like, "Some day there must come peace" and "Perhaps the children will find a way". The final sequence, where the daughter and mother are reunited, is good, but so over-the-top with the music and a well-timed downpour that it feels like a cheat. I know, I know, it's all in the style of Bollywood. But this is a story where big moments simply detract from the simple, powerful central story. Bollywood could certainly use a little restraint at times, too.
Separated from her new husband by the war, Shyama flees Shi Lanka with other refugees despite being pregnant with their child. Alone, young and with no real hope for a future Shyama puts her girl up for adoption. Years later and the girl (T. Amudha) is living with her mother and father (Indra and Thiruchelvan) happily. Despite her still being quite young, Indra and Thiuchelvan take the decision to tell Amudha that she is adopted causing her a certain amount of distress and making her run away fro a short time. Back home and forgiven, Thiruchelvan tells Amudha the story of how she inspired his writing and how she caused the marriage between him and Indra.Inspired by real stories of adopted children from this area, I was attracted to this film because it appeared to be different from some other Indian films I had seen (specifically not a three hour romance with an album full of songs in it). Although I am aware of the situation in Sri Lanka, I had never learnt enough to appreciate the impact on the populace in terms of refugees etc and this film did shed light on that to a certain extent. The plot focuses on the impact on Amudha born out of her country and into an adopted family. For no other reason than to kick-start the story, her adopted parents decide to tell her that she is adopted and seem genuinely surprised when she is upset and then wants to find her mother! This sort of thing happened a couple of times and, although it got the film moving into wider issues, it was a problem that it was written in such an unconvincing fashion and not attached to reality. This also takes away from the emotional impact because you might find the characters hard to believe in. Despite this the film is still worth seeing and just about manages to get away with the sudden sea change between small story to conflict zone footage and moralising.Of course it is still a bit moving and is generally quite interesting while avoiding the terrible clichés of all the Bollywood films that tend to make it to the UK cinemas. Those films are usually overblown affairs about a boy and girl in love (but with an obstacle to happiness) and loads of songs. Here the film still tends to overdo things but it is a smaller story based in reality and was more interesting and accessible to me. The script is a bit problem and the sudden move to depicting the civil war in Sri Lanka is a big step that would have been a problem had I not been interesting in it already. A big part of it working is a natural and convincing performance from first timer Keerthana. She is very good and I found myself easily caring about Amudha because of her work. Madhavan wasd a lot less convincing and was too stiff and unrealistic in his character maybe this sort of performance is OK in crowd-pleasing fairy tales but it was just poor for the most part in this film. Simran was pretty good but the real maternal emotion comes from Das in a small but key role in the film. With all the adults doing OK it is left to Keerthana to lead the film and she does very well apart from a few moment where you can she her giggling behind her hands when she shouldn't be.Overall this is an OK film but not as smooth and as effective as many others have said. Unlike many Indian films, the songs are restrained numbers that support the story rather than dominate it and the direction is good again quite restrained and good at drawing the beauty out of the surrounding as well as staging large action sequences. The acting is a bit mixed but Keerthana is impressive with a natural, convincing and likable performance.The material is a problem though as some plot turns lack any sense of reality or logic while the jump from domestic drama to social commentary and moralising is a pretty bit one and is also a jump too far.
When you want to celebrate life and love, especially for precious little daughters, you have to shout it from the countryside. And what gorgeous countrysides! There are so many tears of joy even God joins in. See this movie.