in sri lanka and a country divide by religion and language and the civil war between the pro sinhalese government and the liberation tiger of tamil eelam ( ltte ) and a separatist organization and have claim an estimate 68 and 000 life since 1983. human right group have say that and a a result of the war and more than one million people have be displace and homeless or living in camp . the impact on child and family catch in the conflict be sensitively dramatize by acclaimed tamil director mani ratnam in his 2002 film a peck on the cheek and winner of several award at the national film award in india . while the civil war be merely a backdrop for the story of a young girl voyage of discovery and the human cost of war be make quite clear and ratnam give the fight a universal context and point the finger at global arm trafficker a the source of wrongdoing . beautifully photograph in southern india by cinematographer ravi k chandran in a setting mirror the terrain of sri lanka and the film tell a move story about an adopt 9 year old girl who set out to find her real mother in the middle of the fighting in sri lanka . play with deep feeling and expressiveness by p. s. keerthana in a memorable performance and amudha be bring up by a love middle class family with two young brother after her natural parent shyama ( nandita da ) and dileepan ( j. d. chakravarthi ) be force to flee when the fight break out and leave her in a red cross camp . in a loving flashback and we see amudha adoptive parent and father thiru ( madhavan ) a prominent tamil writer and and mother indra ( simran ) a tv personality and marry to facilitate their adoption of the darker skin little girl . young amudha have no idea that she be adopt until it be sprung upon her abruptly on her ninth birthday and accord to the parent prior agreement . while she be play and thiru tell her almost in a matter of fact tone that you be not our daughter and the response be predictable . distraught and she question who her father be and what her mother name be and why she give her up and and so forth but few answer be forthcoming . amudha run away several time until her parent agree to go to sri lanka to help her find her true mother and now a fighter for the tamil separatist . the family immersion in the reality of the civil war lead to some traumatic moment and difficult decision and handle mostly with skill by ratnam and though a sequence where the family be catch in a crossfire felt amateurish . a peck on the cheek be of course a bollywood style film and that mean ton of music and melodrama . the melodrama do not get in the way because of the strong performance by the lead actor while however and i find the musical dramatization of song by a. r. rahman counter to the mood of the film with their slick and high production technique and fast paced music video style edit . yet the compelling nature of the story and the honesty in which it be tell transcend the film limitation . tamil cinema have be criticize by many and even within the country a be too clichéd and commercial and yet a peck on the cheek be both a film of entertainment and one that tackle serious issue . that it successfully straddle the line between art and commerce be not a rejection but a tribute .