Mani Ratnam is a popular and much acclaimed Indian movie director. 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 17 years with a passion for the latest cinematographic techniques. He has delivered his extraordinary talent to enrich the Bollywood cinema industry.
Early Life of Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam was born in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu to lyer parents. His school was Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Chennai. He graduated from Vivekananda College in Commerce. He did MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. He started film direction with the help of his late brother, film producer G. Venkateswaran.
Career of Mani Ratnam
He entered the arena of directing films with the Kannada movie Pallavi Anu Pallavi in 1983. He was recognised after the making of Mouna Ragam (1986). Ratnam directed the film, Nayagan in 1987. 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 Swamy, 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.
In 2010 he worked brilli9antly in the film Raavan. The same film was also made in Tamil named Raavanan. This film has a few similarities with the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Tamil version of the film bagged better comments than the Hindi one.
Personal Life of Mani Ratnam
Ratnam was married to actress Suhasini, niece of Kamal Haasan and daughter of Charuhasan in 1988. The couple is blessed with a son named Nandhan. Ratnam lives in Alwarpet, Chennai, where he runs his production company Madras Talkies.
Mani Ratnam won several awards throughout his career. He bagged various National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards. In 2010, he was honoured with Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker at 67th Venice International Film Festival.
His filmography includes:
1983 Pallavi Anu Pallavi
1984 Unaru
1985 Pagal Nilavu
1986 Mouna Raagam
1987 Nayagan
1988 Agni Natchathiram
1989 Geethanjali
1990 Chatriyan, Anjali
1991 Thalapathi
1992 Roja
1993 Gaayam, Thiruda Thiruda
1995 Bombay
1995 Aasai
1996 Indira
1997 Iruvar, Nerrukku Ner
1998 Dil Se
2000 Alaipayuthey
2001 Dumm Dumm Dumm
2002 Kannathil Muthamittal, Saathiya
2004 Yuba, Aayutha Ezhuthu
2007 Guru
2010 Raavan, Raavanan
