Kannathil Muthamittal

"This is a rewatch. A classic tug-on-your-heartstrings type film, this film (whose title translates to "A Peck on the Cheek" from Tamil) shows a young girl trying to find her biological mother against the backdrop of a tragic war that occurred in Sri Lanka (which was ongoing at the time of the film’s release). Phenomenal performances and chemistry from the entire cast, with P. S. Keerthana delivering one of the greatest performances ever by a child actor or actress that I've seen and Madhavan and Simran also standing out as her adoptive parents (the bond the 3 of them share really feels like a family bond). The cinematography, sound design (pay attention to opening and ending credits), and score (the latter by Academy Award-winner A. R. Rahman) also stand out. Even the songs are just beautiful to hear (with incredibly moving lyrics to match it), and the soundtrack is a highly recommend listen too (the title song "Kannathil Muthamittal" along with “Vellai Pookal” and “Vidai Kodu Engal Nade” in particular stand out both musically and especially lyrically (the translated meaning adds to the emotional heft)). None of this is possible without the director Mani Ratnam, who specializes in focusing on human relationships set against a relevant social backdrop and consistently delivers great looking films with stellar performances and score. He is a director whose work deserves wider international attention IMO (his other works include DIL SE, GURU (2007), BOMBAY, and more recently the 2-part epic PONNIYIN SELVAN (the latter being available on Amazon Prime)). Without question my favorite Tamil-language film (along with IRUVAR from the same director), and one that played an important role in shaping my initial tastes in movies. Highly recommended. Side Note: This film won 6 National Film Awards (Indian Oscars), the most ever for a Tamil-language film, and all of them so well deserved IMO (it won for Score, Sound Design, Editing, Performance by a Child Actor etc.)."