Atlanta film-fans who missed the screening of this gem of a movie, by critically acclaimed Tamil Indian veteran filmmaker, screen writer and producer Mani Ratnam can get a DVD from FilmMovement.com

Mani Ratnam, heralded in India as one of the country’s finest directors and who was bestowed Padma Shri by India Government, has given many hit movies including Roja, Bombay, Dil Se,Guru to name a few. His movie ‘Nayakam’ was included in Time magazine’s List of All -Time 100 movies, with the citation “His movies often dramatizing social unrest and political terror churn with narrative tension and camera energy that would be the envy of Hollywood directors, if they were ever to see them.” His movies in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada languages deal with themes about marital relationships, love, loss, terrorism, and class and race conflicts.

‘A Peck on the Cheek’ has garnered many awards and prizes- It is winner of 6 National Film Awards in India, winner of Audience Award for Best Film at Los Angeles Indian Film Festival, and Official Selection-Toronto International Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festival respectively. The movie deals with adoption with Sri Lankan/Tamil conflict as backdrop.

It begins with the marriage of Tamil rebel Dileepan(Chakravarthy) and Shyama(Nandita Das) in a village called Mankulam, in Sri Lanka.. A Dileepan run away to join the rebels, and pregnant Shyama leaves Sri Lanka in a boat with other refugees. She delivers a baby in the refugee camp in Rameshwaram ,India and instantly leaves her and returns to Sri Lanka to look for her husband.

The story unfolds in Chennai. Thiru(Madhavan) is an engineer who also writes fiction under the pseudonym ‘Indra’. Indira(Simran) happens to be the name of his next- door friend, a TV newsreader. After reading Thiru’s story about the abandoned baby, she accompanies Thiru to see the baby. Her heart melts straightaway when the baby holds her finger. She persuades Thiru to adopt her and Thiru agrees. But children can be adopted by only married couples. Though Thiru’s sister is opposed to the adoption, Thiru follows his heart, marries Indira and they succeed in adopting the baby Amudha(Keerthana).

The extended family of the adoptive parents with their two siblings and grandpa provide a secure childhood to precocious, assertive, and bubbly Amudha. On her 9th birthday, however, Amudha learns that she has been adopted and her happy world is thrown into turmoil. She is distraught and desperate to find her biological parents, especially her mother.

She tries twice to look for her mother on her own but is unable to find her. Thiru and Indra accompany her to Sri Lanka where Sri Lankan, Dr.Vikramsinghe(Prakash Raj) helps them in looking for Shyama. During their search they get caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil guerillas. Entire villages are ravaged by mortars, grenades and machine guns as the residents flee in fear. Amudha also gets hurt in these violent clashes. Thiru and his Dr.Vikramsinghe are caught by the guerilla soldiers from the jungle Camp, but are unharmed when they explain their mission. The reunion between Amudha and Shyama is a tear-jerker. Shyama displays a performance of measured intensity as a mother forced by circumstances to make tough choices. Amudha also emotes well with her hypnotic eyes and facial expressions in conveying her understanding of what made her mother leave When Amudha asks her mother, “Why did you leave me?” Ratnam uses silence and pauses to effectively communicate the inner pain of the mother.

The impressive and entertaining movie has humor as well as choreographed songs and dances to A.R.Rahman’s inimitable music. Ravichandran’s camera wizardry is evident in a sumptuous feast of breathtaking scenes of waterfalls, long shots of golden beaches of Rameshwaram, and lush landscapes of Sri Lanka. One of the song shows Amudha frolicking with her school-mates.

All principal characters give strong performances. Amudha’s charm and heartwarming role will endear her to all.

Go for it. Mani Ratnam has delivered another unforgettable winner !


DVD(NTSC) features:

In Tamil with English sub-titles. 136 minutes.

Producer:Mani Ratnam, G.Srinivasan.

Story, Screenplay Mani Ratnam

Cinematography: Ravi Chandran

Music: A.R.Rahman

The DVD also has a riveting 8 minute short,’The Mantis Parable’ by first-time filmmaker Josh Staub. The film is the charming tale of a humble caterpillar trapped in a bug collector’s jar and in need of a helping hand . The film has won awards at over 10 film festivals including the Seattle International Film Festival.