Mani Ratnam

Manirathnam
Born	Manirathnam June 2, 1956 (1956-06-02) (age 52) Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Other name(s)	Mani
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Spouse(s)	Suhasini, Son Nandan
Official website

Mani Ratnam (Tamil: மணி ரத்னம்) (born June 2, 1956 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India) is a critically acclaimed South Indian film director, writer and producer.

[edit] Biography

Mani Ratnam was born as G. Subramaniam on June 2, 1956, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. After graduating with a degree in commerce from Madras University and an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, he embarked on a career as a management consultant before becoming a filmmaker. He got into film direction with the help of his late brother, film producer G. Venkateswaran. He is married to Suhasini. She is a National award winner for best actress, daughter of actor Chaaru Haasan, cousin of Anu Haasan and Shruthi Haasan and niece of Kamal Haasan.

[edit] Career

Mani Ratnam's films often feature realistic, contemporary themes and complex plots. With a career spanning over two decades, he has garnered high acclaim and has been praised for handling serious issues whilst retaining entertainment values in his films. Familial and marital hardships, terrorism, love, class and religious conflict, war, politics, adoption, history and disability are just some of the socio-political issues to have been featured in his films. His movies are generally made in the Tamil language, but are usually also dubbed into other languages like Telugu and Hindi owing to their national appeal. He has also made films in other languages like Hindi, Telugu,Malayalam and Kannada. Mani Ratnam's first film was a Kannada one, in which Anil Kapoor made his debut. Pallavi Anu Pallavi is a film that explores a relationship between an older woman and a young man. He followed this with the love-themed Mouna Raagam, a critical and commercial hit and Nayakan released in 1987. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, his output has included many acclaimed and commercial successes including Roja (1992), Bombay (1995) and Kannathil Muthamittal (2002). His most recent picture, released in 2007, is Guru.

In 2002, Mani Ratnam was awarded the Padma Shri.^[1]

In 1994, a retrospective of his Tamil films was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). His movie Nayakan was part of Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies issued in 2005.^[2][3]

[edit] Filmography

The following is the list of films directed by Mani Ratnam. For many of these movies, Mani Ratnam is also credited for the story, screenplay and producing:

[edit] As Director

[edit] Non-Director

Mani Ratnam established Madras Talkies for film production during the shoot of Iruvar. All movies directed by Mani Ratnam subsequent to Iruvar have been produced through Madras Talkies. Apart from production, Mani Ratnam also has written story and screenplay for movies directed by others.

• Indira (1995) - Screenplay (Movie was directed by his wife Suhasini)
• Ghayam (1993) - Story & Screenplay (Telugu Movie)
• Chatriyan - Story & Screenplay
• Aasai (1995) - Producer
• Nerrukku Ner (1997) - Producer (Madras Talkies)
• Taj Mahal (2000) - Story
• Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001) - Story, Screenplay & Producer
• Saathiya (2002) - Screenplay (Movie is a re-make of Alaipayuthey and was directed by his assistant Shaad Ali) and Producer (Madras Talkies)
• Five Star (2003) - Producer (Madras Talkies)

[edit] Stage Productions

• Netru, Indru, Naalai (2006)

[edit] Family

• Mani's father Gopal Ratnam Iyer was a film producer.
• Mani's brother late G. Venkateswaran, popularly known as G.V. was a noted film producer.
• Mani married to actress Suhasini, niece of Kamal Haasan and they have a 17-year old son Nandan. Nandan has authored a book called The Contours of Leninism.^[4]
• Mani co-founded and co-runs the independent production company Madras Talkies along with his other brother G. Srinivasan. Srinivasan passed away in Manali on the 27th May 2007 by slipping into a gorge.

[edit] Themes

• Mani Ratnam oftens makes movies inspired by real-life events, Nayagan based on gangs in Mumbai at that time, Bombay based on the ethnic war between Hindus and Muslims in Mumbai, Iruvar based on Tamil Nadu political and cinematic icons, Kannathil Muthamittal based on the Sri Lankan Civil War and Aayitha Ezhuthu based on student unrest in Osmania University.
• His movies often portray strong friendship. Examples are seen from Rajni-Mammooty in Thalapathi, Surya-Siddarth in Aayitha Ezhuthu, Mohanlal-Prakash Raj in Iruvar and Kamal-Janakaraj in Nayagan.
• He also revels in creating on screen relationship tangles like Rajni-Shobhana-Arvind Swamy in Thalapathi, Karthik-Revathi-Mohan in Mouna Ragam and Prabhu-Karthik in Agni Natchathiram
• He has shot almost all of his movies in India and rarely travelled outside, except for Guru in Turkey and for Kanathil Muthamittal in Sri Lanka.

[edit] See also

• Madras Talkies
• List of movies by Mani Ratnam featuring A R Rahman

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mani Ratnam at the Internet Movie Database
• Technical Analysis of Mani Ratnam Films
• Mani Ratnam and A. R. Rahman
• Mani Ratnam: Brief film descriptions
• A Mani Ratnam Interview
• Mani Ratnam - article and interview
• Interview with Bharathan Kandaswamy and Mani Ratnam