Preview:
It doesn't matter if you are an avid movie watcher or just an average one, but all of us share a common instinct where in you get an uncanny feeling if a movie will do well or not, so if you are one among those who feel Kannathil Muthamittal is going to be a blockbuster, then you are not alone. Only this time it is not only Madhavan and Mani Rathnam who feel it is going to be another success over-riding their initial piece of work Alaipaayuthey but so do even non-fans of Manirathnam and Madhavan. Madhavan who patronizes Manirathnam for being more than just a director is waiting for the kiss of success once again after the not so expected returns on Paarthale Paravasam. He plays the role of Thiruchelvan, a father of three children, engineer and a serious writer, an attempt to shake off the chocolate boy hero image for a change. Focussing more on quality than quantity unlike her field competitor Jothika Simran is proving that she has more to offer than those glamour roles. She proved comedy was also her cup of tea with Pammal K Sambantham and now her role of Indira a newsreader, the working mother who is not around to give that morning cup of coffee for her husband and kids. It is a typical portrayal of today's working women, who is doing the tight rope walk balancing act between career and family with a smile on her face. This family sentiment based film also stars Nandita Das, Prakash Raj along with Parthiban & Seetha's youngest daughter Keerthana making her debut as a child star.

Review:
Manirathnam has proved once again that his magic still works. If you are keen an observer of Manirathnam's film and an ardent fan too, the basic formula or equation of his movies is quite predictable or evident. It is a political scenario with an ordinary subject from our society and a message in it. You can observe the trend in Roja (Kashmir issue + Rishi, the computer engineer played by Arvindswamy + patriotism), then in Bombay (communal riots + a simple journalist in love with a girl from his village + breaking of the communal barrier) and likewise Uyire. Kannathil Muthamittal is also along the similar lines. But what has made all his previous movies click and what is eventually bound to happen to Kannathil Muthamittal too, is his ability to tap that sensitivity in civilians like us to political issues which have been happening around for such a long time, that by now we have become numb or insensitive to them. It is not that easy a task to link three different compartments such as a happy middle class family with the SriLankan LTTE war and a sensitive issue like adoption without the distinct lines of separation, but with Manirathnam's brilliant screenplay you hardly feel the transition across that vestibule from one world to another while still feel being part of the other one too. Kannathil Mutthamittal is one such merger of messages.

While there are lot of works by others to be commended, the work of child artiste, P.S. Keerthana's [daugher of Parthiban and Seetha] performance is too good - she owes it to more than just her genes and a director who knows to bring the best out children and other artistes too. Simran has literally transformed herself into a mother of three children. Madhavan hasn't really fallen into the groove of Thiruselvan and that could be because of the larger than life mould he was cast into in his earlier venture with Manirathnam, Alaipayuthey, might be if you hadn't seen Alaipayuthey you would give him more credits for his performance. Rehman's numbers are just memorable.

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