I finally snagged a copy of Kannathil Muthamittal through Netflix and spent New Yera’s Eve watching an amazing drama unfold. It began with Shyama (a winsome Nandita Das) getting married to Dhileepan (Chakraborty) in the backwaters of Sri Lanka and then a war takes over their romance. Shyama has to flee to India and is in a refugee camp as she gives birth to a child.
Several years later we see Amudha, a playful well-loved child (P. S. Keerthana), who is the darling (or burden) of teachers, parents and fellow schoolmates alike, in a very How to Solve a Problem Like Maria sequence. On her birthday she is told by her parents Thiru (Madhavan) and Indra (Simran) that she is not their biological child, she was adopted. This tilts her confident love-filled world and she constantly dwells on why her birth mother left her. Several attempts at truancy later the adoptive parents take her to Sri Lanka to try to find her birth mother. The country is torn asunder by a raging civil war and the trio are inevitably caught up in the mess, even while ably assisted by Dr. Vickramsinge (Prakash Raj). But this also leads to their meeting the new Shyama – one who finally is confronted by Amudha and asked why she abandoned her daughter.
The story of a child who has to grapple with the fact that she was abandoned at birth, her obsessive drive to reconnect with her birth mother, the unconditional love of the adoptive parents, the demons that drive the birth mother, the normalcy of Chennai and the horrors of terrorism ravaged Sri Lanka – Mani Ratnam made a masterful film that blended many ingredients into a saga that is soul stirring. AR Rahman’s music beautifully complements the magical and the poignant moments in the film. The film has excellent performances from Madhavan, Nandita Das, Simran and an absolute stunner role as Amudha – the abandoned one – done by the child artiste P. S. Keerthana. This performance won her a National award.
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This is a forgotten gem even among cinephiles. One of the best movies ever made. From the days when Mani Ratnam cared about filmmaking.
ReplyDeleteTrue that Mani's earlier films had a lot more heart than now. But when I saw this one recently I was less enamored by Madhavan, he had a more labored act than the rest of the cast.
ReplyDeleteBoth actresses were absolutely brilliant in KM.That made the mother-daughter relationship so interesting to watch.
ReplyDeleteIt was hard em to pick between Nandita Das and Simran. But the show was certainly stolen by PS Keerthana, the child!
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