Kannathil Muthamittal

Kannathil Muthamittal English A Peck on the Cheek is a 2002 Tamil musicaldrama film directed and produced by Mani Ratnam. It features P. S. Keerthana, Madhavan and Simran in the leading roles with Nandita Das, J. D. Chakravarthy, Prakash Raj and Pasupathy portraying other pivotal characters. The films score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman, while Ravi K. Chandran handled the cinematography. Mani Ratnam presents the story of a child of Sri Lankan Tamil parentage adopted by Indian parents, who desires to meet her biological mother in the midst of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

The film begins in a small village in Sri Lanka called Mankulam, where Shyama Nandita Das is married to Dileepan J. D. Chakravarthy, who along with few other Sri Lankan Tamils in the village, is part of the Tamil Tigers rebel association. While having a quiet moment, the couple hears sounds of Sri Lankan army troops approaching. He asks Shyama to leave while he remains in the forest. Shyama realizes that she is pregnant and waits in vain for Dileepans return. Her villagers begin fleeing to India to seek refugee due to the war. Shyama is initially stubborn to leave her husband behind, but her relatives convince her to seek refuge for her unborn childs sake. The villagers board a boat to theLike other Mani Ratnam projects, the film began production with very little official publicity in early 2001 with the media covering the project as either Manjal Kudai Yellow Umbrella or Kudaigal Umbrellas. The film was reported of a trilogy of films based on love and peace in the backdrop of war after Roja 1992 and Bombay 1995 with Mani Ratnam choosing to base the film with the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Madhavan was signed up to play a leading role in the film, with the venture becoming his third straight Mani Ratnam project after Alaipayuthey and the Mani Ratnam production, Dumm Dumm Dumm. For the role of Indira, Mani Ratnam considered casting either Rani Mukerji, Soundarya or relative newcomer Bhumika Chawla, before finalising Simran to portray the character. Madhavan and Simran thus shot for two films simultaneously together, as they had also been cast in K. Balachandars Paarthale Paravasam as a married couple. Nandita Das was also roped in for the film, making her debut in Tamil films, and in a later interview mentioned that the team shot for nearly thirteen hours a day. P. S. Keerthana, the second daughter of actors Parthiban and Seetha, was cast the child artiste in the film, while Prakash Raj was also roped in to play a Sinhalese character. Man

Source: Wikipedia