I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I am a jaded viewer, one who has watched movies almost every day for the past 13-14 years. However, the Tamil movies that I have seen in the past week have been among the finest that I have seen and it has been their allure that has made me come back for more, day after day. This, for most of its run time, is no exception. Most parts of Europe, these days, are pre-occupied with the Syrian refugee crisis. There was a similar exigency, more on the lines of ethnic cleansing practiced by the reigning govt. that was brewing in Sri Lanka, from the late 50s and that brewed over in the early 80s. The film is set against the backdrop of this official pogrom against the Tamil minority of Sri Lanka. The initial portion is narrated from the point of view of a little girl, who is growing up in Chennai, but who is the offspring of a Lankan refugee. The backstory of how Madhavan and his wife come to adopt the child is extremely well done, with little histrionics, but a lot of love and heart. The romance never seems overdone or forced, but feels like an organic growth between the two protagonists. To make the viewer feel such strong emotions, in a span of 20 odd minutes, is Maniratnam's magic. The narration is so powerful and the drama so riveting that they defy you to look away from the screen. It is when the action shifts to Sri Lanka that the tenor of the film changes from drama to thriller and the proceedings become a lot predictable. It happened around the 3 quarter mark and this was when I found my interest level sagging. There was the suicide bombing, village evacuations and the mandatory anti- war statements followed by war sequences to fulfill the viewer's blood lust. I expected all these to happen and wasn't very happy when my expectations were met. The charm of the first half lay in the fact that the story had a hook and pulled the viewer. The second part lets go off the tight hold. A small aside. This movie was made in 2002 and a lot less was known, then, about the state sponsored murder. Perhaps, it was films, such as these, which exposed the public to what was happening in Lanka. Perhaps, it would have affected me lot more 15 years back. Madhavan expertly straddles the spectrum of hues that Maniratnam embellishes his character with. However, it is the female triumvirate, of Simran, Nandita Das and P.S. Keerthana, who dominate with its screen presence and the vigor and intensity of its performance. Simran is, to use an often misused cliché, masterly, both in emotional sequences, where she chokes up (and so would any sentient watcher) as well as in romantic scenes with Madhavan, wherein she warms the heart, with her banter and idealism. She and Keerthana broke my heart many times, with their exchanges about motherly and daughterly love. Nandita Das took me by surprise. I am not a qualified judge of Tamil accent and hence can't comment on hers. There is a scene towards the end, wherein she lets her eyes and tears do all the talking. She is scarily brilliant and gives a glimpse of her formidable prowess. This should be seen by everyone who loves exceptional drama, with slices taken from the world around us.

This film is absolute gold. If you haven't seen it, do. Mani Ratnam outdoes himself once again. This film introduced me to Nandita Das as well, though everyone shines in this movie. My only regret is I've never found a copy with subtitles to the lyrics of the songs. We are led from the jungle of northern Sri Lanka to the serene beaches of Southern India, as well as from the terror of war to the ultimate conquest by love of the human heart. Beautiful, subtle, witty, with a few hidden surprises waiting for the viewer, this movie stands up to being seen again and again, and the story within the story, The Umbrella, is done so well, as we watch the scene unfold from drawings in a book. Lovely. Watch it.

Touching Bollywood epic melodrama about a 10 year-old girl who finds out that she's adopted, and is determined to find her birth mother. The film's major success is the performance of P.S. Keerthana, who plays the girl. The first half of the film is very good. There are a few really good songs, too, especially the number that introduces the protagonist. Unfortunately, the film's second half, which takes place in war-torn Sri Lanka, feels like an entirely different, and disappointing movie. It's big on explosions and special effects, with Sri Lankan soldiers and rebels dodging grenades, running from fireballs, and being yanked by stunt wires. All the film can offer as insight are cheap platitudes like, "Some day there must come peace" and "Perhaps the children will find a way". The final sequence, where the daughter and mother are reunited, is good, but so over-the-top with the music and a well-timed downpour that it feels like a cheat. I know, I know, it's all in the style of Bollywood. But this is a story where big moments simply detract from the simple, powerful central story. Bollywood could certainly use a little restraint at times, too.

In Sri Lanka, a country divided by religion and language, the civil war between the pro-Sinhalese government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist organization, has claimed an estimated 68,000 lives since 1983. Human rights groups have said that, as a result of the war, more than one million people have been displaced, homeless or living in camps. The impact on children and families caught in the conflict is sensitively dramatized by acclaimed Tamil director Mani Ratnam in his 2002 film A Peck on the Cheek, winner of several awards at the National Film Awards in India. While the civil war is merely a backdrop for the story of a young girl's voyage of discovery, the human cost of war is made quite clear and Ratnam gives the fighting a universal context, pointing the finger at global arms traffickers as the source of wrongdoing.Beautifully photographed in Southern India by cinematographer Ravi K Chandran in a setting mirroring the terrain of Sri Lanka, the film tells a moving story about an adopted 9-year old girl who sets out to find her real mother in the middle of the fighting in Sri Lanka. Played with deep feeling and expressiveness by P.S. Keerthana in a memorable performance, Amudha is brought up by a loving middle class family with two younger brothers after her natural parents Shyama (Nandita Das) and Dileepan (J.D. Chakravarthi) were forced to flee when the fighting broke out, leaving her in a Red Cross camp. In a loving flashback, we see Amudha's adoptive parents, father Thiru (Madhavan) a prominent Tamil writer, and mother Indra (Simran) a TV personality, marry to facilitate their adoption of the darker-skinned little girl.Young Amudha has no idea that she is adopted until it is sprung upon her abruptly on her ninth birthday, according to the parents' prior agreement. While she is playing, Thiru tells her almost in a matter of fact tone that "you are not our daughter" and the response is predictable. Distraught, she questions who her father was, what her mother's name was, why she gave her up, and so forth but few answers are forthcoming. Amudha runs away several times until her parents agree to go to Sri Lanka to help her find her true mother, now a fighter for the Tamil separatists. The family's immersion in the reality of the civil war leads to some traumatic moments and difficult decisions, handled mostly with skill by Ratnam, though a sequence where the family was caught in a crossfire felt amateurish.A Peck on the Cheek is of course a Bollywood-style film and that means tons of music and melodrama. The melodrama did not get in the way because of the strong performances by the lead actors; however, I found the musical dramatizations of songs by A. R. Rahman counter to the mood of the film with their slick, high production techniques and fast-paced music video-style editing. Yet the compelling nature of the story and the honesty in which it is told transcend the film's limitations. Tamil cinema has been criticized by many, even within the country as being too clichéd and commercial, yet A Peck on the Cheek is both a film of entertainment and one that tackles serious issues. That it successfully straddles the line between art and commerce is not a rejection but a tribute.