Kannathil Muthamittal ((A Peck on the Cheek))

Kannathil Muthamittal ((A Peck on the Cheek))

Yesterday, as I was getting bored decided to see the movie Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek). I tried getting this movie in Tamilnadu, but thanks to the state's useless DVD policies they cannot be released. The only original Tamil DVDs you get are pictures of my dad's era unless you get to the Pirated Versions which are Illegal thanks to the Tamilnadu Film Artistes.

I got this film from a friend and what an amazing film. The girl Amudha played by Keerthana is simply fantabulous. The role played by Madhavan as the famous freelance writer and Simran, the TV News Reader are simply cool. Keerthana as Amudha certainly brings tears especially when she is told on the beach by Madhavan that she has been adopted and when she asks bout her two brothers... Also the last scene; the daughter and mother talk and how the daughter asks Nandita questions on why she left at the refugee camp, did she ever lift her up in her arms and how the duaghter brings her mother portrayed as a Terrorist/Freedom Fighter, which has been excellently portrayed by Nandita Das simply brings you to tears.

Mani Ratnam's forte is to make films on burning issues. This time, too, with the seething Sri Lankan problem as backdrop, he presents a sensitive story about a delicate flower caught in a storm.

Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek) is a fine example of his work and a perfectly accessible introduction to anyone who wishes to explore the colourful worlds of Indian or Tamil cinema who thinks that Bollywood musicals might not be quite to their taste.

Tamil film Kannathil Muthamittal does not have any Humma humma [Bombay] or Chhaiya chhaiya [Dil Se] or old dancing women [Roja, Dalapati].

Though the issue has been tackled in a couple of recent Tamil films, Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal is way ahead.

An honestly told tale without frills, the film starts with a wedding taking place in the Tamil parts of Sri Lanka. As the husband Dileeppan (Chakravarty) leaves for the rebellion, the pregnant wife Shama (Nandita Das) is forced to go to India, risking the armies of both countries. She survives many hazards in the journey, captured brilliantly by cinematographer Ravi K Chandran.


Midway, she learns that her husband is wounded and wants to return. After she gives birth in the refugee camp, she leaves for her native land and her husband --- but without her daughter.

The girl (Keerthana) grows up in a foster home --- in the Madhavan-Simran household, with two younger brothers for company. She simply is a heart-stealer. Whether it is being peeved with her parents or while bullying her brothers, Keerthana is a wonderful performer.

She also leaves you bewildered --- you don't know whether to marvel at her prowess or empathise with the young child getting to know her roots. She brilliantly portrays turmoil when she comes to know that she is in a foster home, that her grandfather, parents and her brothers are not her blood.

A R Rahman, dialogue writer Sujata and lyricist Vairamuthu lend ample support to this offering, with Sabu Cyril designing the fantastic sets, especially the Sri Lankan portions.

Mani Ratnam seems to have drawn out the best from Simran, who has been shying away from glamorous roles for a while now.

Nandita Das tugs at your heart-strings when she tries to answer her little daughter's questions as to why she deserted her daughter for her motherland and her husband.

Madhavan lives the character of the writer he portrays, shedding off the Maddy [teenyboopper] image he has so often conveyed.

In parting, Mani Ratnam has taken a bold stance at this issue, which he has earlier only hinted at.

Story Line
Amudha is told the truth of her origins by her adoptive parents Indra and Thiru. The young girl of course wants to know her real mother and finds a way of returning to the still war-torn island of Sri Lanka.

The storyline is not in the least complex or even original and there are few surprises as the young Amudha - played with some degree of skill by the young actress P.S. Keerthana, as well as a little bit of sass that the character is obviously meant to possess - decides to take it upon herself to find her mother and eventually gets the support of her parents to take her there. Fortunately her adoptive father is a famous writer and her mother is a TV personality, both of whom are very understanding and resourceful parents. It’s all a little too smooth and non-confrontational, but there is quite a bit of charm in the way the film presents the backstory of how it was in the adopting Amudha that Indra and Thiru came together to marry.

When the story arrives back in Sri Lanka however, the story quite unexpectedly takes a surprising turn. The civil war still continues and the film shows the effects of the war on the people of Sri Lanka - suicide bombers, bombed-out villages, guerrilla fighters prowling the forests and some quite striking Black Hawk Down style battle sequences. It never gets bogged down in the political issues however, but rather addresses the issues in a broader sense - as simply war - and even then it rather naively portrays this as a universal malaise for which international arms dealers are more to blame than religion or politics. That’s not a criticism of the film however - the film make no pretence of being anything more than a voyage of discovery for a young girl and has no more to say about the specifics of a war situation than The Sound of Music had any anything to say about the Anchluss. It uses a real-world situation well, without getting distracted from the purpose of the film and maintains an effective sense of danger that I found quite surprising.

Make no mistake about it, A Peck on the Cheek is melodramatic to its core. With a determined lack of irony, it tells a highly romanticized story of abandonment and reunion, directly played for an emotional response with--in true Bollywood style--schmaltzy pop songs interspersed to heighten the unabashed, unapologetic sentimentality. At the same time, the production values are extraordinary and the performances are sufficiently expert to win over anyone with the slightest receptivity to a good tear-jerking wallow

Director Ratnam pulls out all the stops with bombs exploding, guerilla ambushes, and long processions of refugees miserably leaving their war-torn towns. The reunion takes place in a park as a battle is waged on all sides and, finally, there's a cleansing rainstorm that neatly parallels the rivers of family tears.

As is expected with melodrama, the characterizations are stock and the emotions predictable. But on its own terms A Peck on the Cheek works. The acting breathes life into the characters and the narrative drive is (mostly) well sustained over the two and a quarter hour length of the film. Ratnam, who also co-wrote the screenplay, even manages to get in some pointed lines of anti-war politics ("Those who make weapons have a commercial interest in war.") which give the film an added resonance for an audience troubled by the current conflict.

Finally, I have decided to buy this DVD from Ayngaran International in UK....

Trivia - About London Underground

I have been travelling on the Underground for almost 8 months now and I found some trivia which are very interesting... It is certainly an experience travelling in the Tube that is what it is called.

The Tube was built at a Time when Indians were fighting the Brits for Independence and putting them way ahead in terms of Transport. The Map of the Tube is so concise that u can read the map from a Visiting card and still make it to ur destination. This map is a marvel done by Harry Beck.

Introducing Harry Beck
The striking symbol that is recognised across the globe was the brainchild of Underground electrical draughtsman, Harry Beck, who produced this imaginative yet stunningly simple design back in 1933.

Beck based the map on the circuit diagrams he drew for his day job, stripping the sprawling Tube network down to basics.

The result was an instantly clear and comprehensible chart that would become an essential guide to London - and a template for transport maps the world over.

Beck's revolutionary design, with certain modifications and additions, survives to the present day and is set to serve London Underground and its millions of customers for many years to come

The map can be seen everywhere T-Shirts, Cups, Bags and even pens and Book Covers.

More about the map can be obtained from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/maps/

50 things you never knew about the London Underground
1. There is only one tube station name which does not have any letters of the word "mackerel" in it - St John's Wood.
2. There are only two tube stations which have all five vowels in them - Mansion House and South Ealing.
3. Considering there are 287 tube stations, things 1 and 2 are quite surprising.
4. Chancery Lane has the shortest escalator on the system - 50 steps.
5. Travelling on the tube for 40 minutes is the equivalent of smoking two cigarettes - so save yourself a packet, all you smokers and get on the tube more often.
6. The shortest distance between tube stations is Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line - 0.16 miles.
7. The most popular route for tourists is Leicester Square to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line. It is quicker to walk this distance than travel on the tube.
8. The only tube station which shares the name of a well known pop group is All Saints (yeah I know it's on the Docklands Light Railway - but it's still on the tube map).
9. The phrase "Mind the Gap" originated on the Northern line.
10. The Jubilee line was originally going to be called the Fleet line.
11. Northfields station on the Piccadilly line was the first to use kestrels and hawks to kill pigeons and stop them setting up homes in stations.
12. The Central line covers the longest route - from West Ruislip to Epping you will travel 34 miles without changing.
13. The Waterloo and City line covers the shortest route - 2 kilometres, but considering it only covers two stations - Waterloo and Bank, it doesn't take Stephen Hawkins to work that one out.
14. The oldest tube line in the world is the Metropolitan line. It opened on the 10th January 1863.
15. Tube carriages originally had no windows and buttoned upholstery and were nicknamed "padded cells". No change there then.
16. Men have to sit with their legs apart when travelling on the tube. This is due to special magnetic fibres on the upholstery of the seats which interacts with testosterone to provide an antimagnetic outward force.
17. Julian Lloyd Webber was London Underground's first official busker - I didn't know he needed the money that badly.
18. More of the London Underground is open than in a tunnel. Tell yourself this fact if you suffer from claustrophobia.
19. Bank has more escalators than any other station on the tube - 15 plus two moving walkways - count em!
20. Out of the 287 stations, only 29 are south of the river Thames.
21. One of the female automated voice announcers is called Sonia - because her voice "gets on yer nerves".
22. Fish and Parcels is the slang name for the District Line. It should be Pony and Trap.
23. Edward Johnston designed the font for the London Underground in 1916.
24. The peak hour for tube suicides is 11am.
25. The Jubilee Line Extension was the most expensive railway line ever built. It cost USD 330 million per kilometre. Shame they didn't make the platforms and the trains bigger though.
26. All 409 escalators do the equivalent of two round the world trips every week.
27. Amersham is not only the most westerly station on the tube it is also the highest - 150 metres above sea level.
28. People were smaller when the carriages were built in the 1860's - which is one of the reasons why you'll find your journey so uncomfortable today.
29. Harry Beck, designer of the tube map in 1933, was only paid five guineas for his original job. His design is still the basis of today's tube map.
30. The first escalator was introduced at Earls Court in 1911.
31. Gladstone and Dr Barnado were the only people to ever have their coffins transported by tube.
32. Not only were the early escalators made of wood, but also the legs of the people who demonstrated them. Wooden legged Bumper Harris was employed to travel up and down the tube's first escalator to prove that it was safe.
33. Angel has Western Europe's longest escalator - 318 steps.
34. Mosquitoes that live in the underground have evolved into a completely different species, one that appears separated from the above ground mozzie by over a thousand years.
35. Regent's Park, Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park Corner and Bank are some of the few stations which do not have an above ground surface building.
36. The air in the underground is on average 10°C hotter than the air on the surface.
37. People who commit suicide by throwing themselves under tube are called "one-unders". In New York they are known as "track pizza". Choose your preference.
38. Pigeons regularly travel from West Ham in east London to central London on the tube in order to get more food.
39. The best places to spot mice running around the tracks of the underground are Waterloo station (northbound on the Bakerloo line) and any platform at Oxford Circus.
40. Green grapes cause more accidents on the London Underground than banana skins.
41. Anthea Turner and her sister Wendy have written a series of children's books about mice living on the London Underground. An estimated half a million mice live in the Underground system so that should keep them both busy for a while.
42. Only one person was ever born in a tube carriage and her name is Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor - check out her initials. She was born in 1924 on a Bakerloo line train at Elephant & Castle.
43. The Gappe is a little known bird/bat like creature, which only tube announcers can see and we are often told to mind them.
44. Victoria and King's Cross record the highest number of tube suicides each year. This isn't surprising as Victoria is the tube's busiest station with 85 million passengers each year and King's Cross has 70 million passengers each year.
45. Aldwych station (now closed) is featured on level 12 in the Tomb Raider game with Lara Croft killing rats.
46. Christopher Lee and Donald Pleasance starred in a 1970s horror film called Death Line (a.k.a Raw Meat), where man eating troglodytes terrorised people on the London Underground.
47. The Cadbury's Whole Nut chocolate bar is the biggest seller in the chocolate machines at tube stations.
48. A fragrance called "Madeleine" was introduced at St James Park, Euston and Piccadilly station in an effort to make the tube smell better on 23rd March 2001. It was taken out of action on 24th March 2001 as it was making people feel sick.
49. The sexiest film scene featuring the London Underground is The Wings of the Dove. Helena Bonham Carter and Linus Roache travel in a 19th century carriage together, then get off and make love in a lift. Who said there's no romance on the tube?
50. Speaking of doves, buskers cannot sing.

Weird News - Metro - 20 Oct 2005

Today as I was reading the Metro on my way to work I found some of the news very funny. Here are some of them:

Help group for silly name pain
JUST LIKE THE Boy Named Sue in Johnny Cash's hit song, Digby Milo Jones reckons his parents saddled him with a lifetime of misery when they christened him.

Mr Jones, of Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, claims he can offer help based on his own experience
But the 37-year-old is now seeking to turn the tables and cash in on the years of 'hurt and pain' he says his name has caused him.

The married father-of-two has set up a website and is about to launch a book he spent three years writing, offering advice and support to others with unusual names.

Mr Jones, of Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, claims he can offer help based on his own experience.
The website, www.ihatemyname.com, offers help on how to deal with name-calling and other insults, as well as offering a chance to buy merchandise bearing the 'ihatemyname' logo.

Police dog too soft for job
A POLICE DOG has been sacked from his force for being too soft.

Instead of helping his handler deal with drunks fighting outside a pub, he just wagged his tail and tried to make friends German shepherd Buster has now been given to a family after a series of misdemeanours during a one-year £25,000 training course.

First, he disgraced himself during a search for a missing person near Rotherham by ignoring footprints, curling up in the grass and falling asleep.

Then, instead of helping his handler PC David Stephenson deal with drunks fighting outside a pub, he just wagged his tail and tried to make friends.

The final straw came when he was supposed to flush out a burglar from a garden after a 3am call. Buster ignored the thief hiding behind a wall, relieved himself and then lay down.
'Buster's a lovely animal but he was never cut out to be a police dog,' said PC Stephenson, of South Yorkshire Police.

'He just wanted to be everyone's friend. That's fine if he's to be a pet but I didn't want him making friends with offenders at three in the morning.'

-From the Metro 20th October 2005

Medical System IN UK

Why the hell am I writing this? Well I am not crazy. I am currently in London on deputation and all of a sudden I have not registered with National Health Service of whom I have heard crazy stuff. You never get an appointment and even if u get one you have to wait for 4 days to see a doctor/specialist. Antibiotics are not Over The Counter. I get that in India OTC.

Brits come to India for the medical treatment coz they are not happy with the Medical System which is prohibitively expensive. This guy somewhere in Sussex pulls out his teeth with pliers at Home since he has not been given an appointment and has to wait for a month to have his cavity filled.

Man my goodness and I have a tooth ache. Not a severe one though. I have a bridge on my right hand side lower jaw at the rear of my mouth. I bit something hard and the gums are inflamed and a bit sensitive. So what do I do?; Pull it off Ummmmmm....

Isn’t it disgusting UK is called a developed Nation and U have to wait ages to get an appointment. What do u do in emergencies?

Wait till you die? Now I know the medical System in India is really good considering the fact there are 1 Billion people. We may not have as many doctors per person but the treatment is fantastic. Appointments!!!! what are they. well with big hospitals I do need to take appointments but with a toothache even if I just visit a doctor I won't be thrown out...

And then why am I here? Money to keep my people happy and keep myself happy. Many people including close ones tell me money is not that important but I guess these are people who have enough money.

Yeah, But I am missing the niceties of life watch my daughter grow and see her giggling, laughing, learning to grow and I bet she is growing fast. So I guess money makes one drive but I should learn that Money should drive what you do in life. Will I be happy with the money earned? Am I Satisfied? Noooooo. I still want more..

Well u never know when my job will go to China.... So make Hay While the Sun Shines.

I started with Medical System and ended with Money well That’s what it is...

To day is almost nearing the end and I see the light to Go home... Another weekend. Another laundry, cleaning and getting ready for Monday. Can't life ever slow down....

The Lion King Musical @ the Lyceum

After a Busy weekday. It was time to chill and I mean Chill in every sense of the word. London was getting colder day by day and the days are getting shorter.

Man... I really love the cold weather. Walking out in Shorts and a T-Shirt is definitelky better. and Again the Cold weather is definitely better than the Hot, Sticky, Sweaty Chennai.

Saturday, started off well and then a short stint at reorganizing my files on my etxrenal Hard Disk and then getting ready to go to the Royal Lyceum Theatre to watch the Lion King Musical.

The tickets booked by Smrithy George we left the YMCA at 1320 and reaching the Lyceum, I guess by Indian Standards on time. 2 more guys followed us Kabin George and Kashyap Muthuswamy (late but was true to what he said i.e. leaving home at 1330. He arrived on time but yeah I skipped a Heartbeat.)

We rushed on to the Theatre and man the Theatre was really Royal. The theater was really nice and lot of tiny tots with eager parents to watch the Lion King.

The Musical was fantabulous by all standards. The sets, the play, the screenplay, the dialogues were just too wonderful and words cannot explain what I would like to tell about the play.

The haunting chants for the grassland and the lionesses are by South African musician Lebo M, who also co-wrote four songs, with Mark Macina and three others. The wonderful Shadowlands, with its blend of European and African rhythms and orchestration, is their best. The sets are by the Zimbabwe-born Richard Hudson: their sense of broad spaces, high, cloud-fringed skies, and the brilliant reds, oranges, browns and deep yellows of the African landscape will haunt you for weeks to come. But it is finally Julie Taymor's show. She has directed it, designed the stunning costumes, and collaborated with Mark Curry on the even more stunning masks and puppets...

The Lion King is a wonderful, wonderful musical: thrilling, warm-hearted, inventive and origianl. It has a pulsating, teeming sense of animal life effortlessly at home in its rich, dangerous natural habitat, and a seamless blend of story and spectacle."Julie Taymor, the American director and designer, has brought to The Lion King puppets whose origins lie in the Far East an Africa... and no attempt is made to conceal the technically humble devices which drive them... This gorgeous carnival of hybrid creatures - part-beast, part-human - is emphatically, triumphantly theatrical. It never tries to mimic the special effects or verisimilitude of film. It is playful and ingenious, drawing attention to pretences.

The Lion King is a ravishing spectacle, the cat's whiskers no less, and an unmissable treat for the whole family... I can hardly wait to see it again or, more tantalising, to see the effect of the breathtakingly opening few moments of pure animal magic on the faces of the my children. A more imaginatively concieved carnival of creatures is impossible to conjure... An intensely theatrical experience.

The Lion King - Musical is an indisputable triumph - in the stage-version, at least, because Disney has entrusted the show to a director (Julie Taymor) and a creative team with exceptional imagination and a rare grasp of theatrical resources. You are gripped from teh first scene: a magnificent rippling sunrise, the chanting of a much-bedaubed and bedizened shaman, fabricated animals trooping down the aisle and flocking across the stage... It is so well done that you wonder where they can go from there, but scene after scene proves equally impressive...

What makes the spectacle so entrancing is that we are invited to enter into it as a game - to enjoy the means by which it is produced rather than goggling as the simulated reality... At every stage we are made aware of the actor behind an animal... The visual splendors of the show are never allowed to swamp the drama. The storyline remains clear and compelling... The Lion King is superlative entertainment, and puts most other mega-musicals in the shade.

If You get a Chance Do Make it a Point to watch it...