Misplaced Priorities

On hindsight Kannathil Muthamittaal stands out as one with the most complex and conflicting personal issues of Mani Rathnam films.

A mother who places the interests of her cause to the extent of abandoning her newborn daughter.
A lover who places his ideals ahead of his love.
A daughter who abandons her adopted family in search of her birth parents who had abandoned her at birth.
An idealist who forsakes his safety in lieu of his charges.

And the character that stands out the most is that of Simran's.

The teenage girl who silently yearns for her idealistic neighbour (Madhavan).
Who has her advances rebuffed.
Till the day he proposes, not to be his life partner, but rather to be a mother to his adopted daughter.
She accepts the offer out of her love for him.
Raises the daughter as her own alongwith her own offspring.

Till the day the daughter realizes the truth, forsakes her foster mother in search of her birth mother.

She continues to support her daughter's efforts despite umpteen setbacks and rebuttals.

Only to be rewarded by a consolatory peck on the cheek (A laboured and unconvincing one at that) before the credits roll.

Giving some thought makes one wonder whether such a character would exist in real life.

Highly unlikely.

But a great character and performance.