Mani Ratnam is an interesting director because he reflects at once the aggressiveness of the Tamil cinema while showing the real technical gifts for direction and civic concerns not devoid of interest. He is one of the most important directors of Tamil commercial cinema of these last 15 years with a passion for the latest cinematographic techniques.
One year after the melodrama, Mouna Ragam (1986), which established his reputation as a gifted director, Ratnam directed the film, Nayakan. It was an adaptation of Coppola`s Godfather. This Hollywood style pastiche was controversial as it echoed the several decades of anti-Hindi and anti-Tamil political films. The leading character was played by
Kamal Hassan. The following year Mani Ratnam directed Agni Nakshatram, a musical film. It is a typical tale with two brothers, one virtuous and the other a voyeur. Anjali in 1990 deals with a handicapped girl who dies on rediscovering her parents.
In 1993 Mani Ratnam shot
Thiruda Thiruda, a delightful and breathtaking adventure film. Here the comedy revolves around exploits, twists and turns of the plot, spectacular fight scenes and dances. What, however, established Mani Ratnam`s fame as a `wunderkind` were two great films in Hollywood genre, political panoramas in cinemascope which became an enormous success all over India. These films were dubbed in several languages including
Hindi. The first of its kind was
Roja (1992) starring Arvind Swami, Madhu and
Pankaj Kapur. In 1994
Bombay followed with the same male lead but the female protagonist was played by
Manish Koirala. It dealt with the sensitive bomb blasts in Mumbai.
In 1996 came
Iruvar and then a host of films followed.
Aayitha Ezhuthu came in 2004. This film was also released in Hindi as Yuva. The latest from the Mani Ratnam stable is
Guru which had hit the theatres in 2007. This film starred
Abhishek Bachchan,
Aishwarya Rai,
Vidya Balan,
Mithun Chakraborty and
Madhavan among others.
A filmography of Mani Ratnam will include the following films:
| Year |
Film |
Year |
Film |
| 1983 |
Pallavi Anu Pallavi (Kannada) |
1993 |
Thiruda Thiruda (Tamil) |
| 1985 |
Unaru (Malayalam) |
1995 |
Bombay (Tamil. Also dubbed into Hindi) |
| 1985 |
Pagal Nilavu |
1997 |
Iruvar (Tamil) |
| 1985 |
Idaya Kovil (Tamil) |
1998 |
Dil Se (Hindi) |
| 1986 |
Mouna Raagam (Tamil) |
2000 |
Alaipayuthey (Tamil) |
| 1987 |
Nayagan (Tamil) |
2002 |
Kannathil Muthamittal (Tamil) |
| 1988 |
Agni Natchathiram (Tamil) |
2004 |
Aayitha Ezhuthu (Tamil) |
| 1989 |
Geethanjali (Telegu) |
2004 |
Yuva (Hindi) |
| 1990 |
Anjali |
2007 |
Guru (Hindi/ Tamil) |
| 1991 |
Thalapathi (Hindi) |
2009 |
Ashokavanam (Tamil) (Yet to release) |
| 1992 |
Roja (Tamil. Also dubbed into Hindi) |
2009 |
Raavan (Hindi) (Yet to release) |
