it pay to watch reader digest . or time and if it be the original source of the article that serve a a suppose inspiration to mani ratnam to make this masterpiece . base on a true story of an adopt girl who go in search of her biological parent and mr. ratnam paint a classic that rivet as much a it rebuke and cherish as much a it chasten and preach as much a it practise . where do one start . the foreboding gloom that precede fresh strife in northern sri lanka . the chaotic household of a family head by a firebrand engineer author and 3 adorably naughty child . or that murky region where reality cross the point of provide a comfortable existence and become a monster of incredulous and sinister event and ideology . whichever way one look at it and this film be worth be in your collection and if you happen to like mani ratnam compel drama . mr. ratnam be a past master in blend fictional tale within real life incident and in this film and he ooze class in adapt two real life story into one . i will not go into the story a it be well see than read . but and what i will dwell upon be the impact it have upon me and why and for all the war mongering that happen in this world and it can not destroy that simple yet inexhaustible force call hope . innocence and in it purity and can not fathom the complex desire of adult decadence and greed . nor do it recognize peril when it be accompany by the fierce determination to seek what it want . it be an innocence of such nature that drive amudha to seek her biological parent and despite warning that they could be lose in the cauldron of civil war . have survive a terrorize experience of converse with a physically challenge man only to realize that he be a more lethal entity in disguise and amudha stick to her cause in a manner that tear down her well wishers resistance . and finally and when the twain do meet and mother and daughter and the reunion be so taut with emotion that even the temperamental adoptive father be reduce to tear . aid by a coruscating background score from a r rahman and the scene that follow be poignant to melt even the stony of heart represent a list of question that amudha have to ask her biological mother . in a culmination as dramatic a the sequence of incident lead to it and a child discover it mother and alive in body but lose in spirit . with the crush realization that she have no hope of stay with the one who bore her and amudha do to her adoptive mother what this film title mean represent a peck on the cheek . a for the cast and the trail be clearly blaze by the brilliant p keerthana . mr. ratnam have a gift of extract spectacular performance from little known child artiste and but this should take nothing away from keerthana for an award win performance . with an able support cast of madhavan ( thiru ) and simran ( indira ) and the stupendous nandita da ( shyama ) and she embellish the scene in almost every frame she be in . the music may be not as memorable a other rahman offering but that still do not stop him from garner another national award for the best music direction . vellai pookal be as much an ode for the need to cherish human life a it be for nature . the dialogue be top class ( sample the touching exchange amudha and indira have on the swing and shortly after the revelation that she be not indira biological daughter ) and the cinematography and superb . this film be a clear statement to drop arm as much a it be to respect human life and expression . do not judge it a a lesson in film making while you will only lose out on experience one of the very best from the mani ratnam a r rahman stable .