| Mani Ratnam | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gopalaratnam Subramaniam Iyer June 2, 1956 Madurai, Tamilnadu, India |
| Other name(s) | Mani Rathnam |
| Occupation | Film director, film producer, screenwriter |
| Spouse(s) | Suhasini Ratnam |
| Official website | |
Mani Ratnam (Tamil: மணி ரத்னம்) (born June 2, 1956 in Madurai, Tamilnadu, India) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He is known for directing critically acclaimed films such as Mouna Raagam (1986), Nayagan (1987), Anjali (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Iruvar (1997), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Yuva (2004), and his "terrorism trilogy" consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995) and Dil Se (1998).[1][2] He has won many awards,five Filmfare Awards (South), four Filmfare Awards (Hindi), and ten international film festival awards.[3]
Contents |
Personal life and education
Mani Ratnam was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India to Hindu Tamil parents. His actual name is Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam Iyer[citation needed]. After graduating with a degree in Commerce from Vivekananda College, University of Madras 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. Ratnam married actress Suhasini in 1988. They have a son by name Nandhan Mani Ratnam.
Attributed with having "revolutionised" the Chennai film industry, and altering the profile of Indian national cinema, Ratnam lives in Alwarpet, Chennai, where he runs his production company Madras Talkies.
Career
1980s
Mani Ratnam's directorial debut was in 1983, through the Anil Kapoor starring Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi. ManiRatnam made significant headways in his first film, and also managing to persuade acclaimed director and cinematographer Balu Mahendra to serve as cinematography. The film boldly explored the nature of a relationship between young man and an elder woman. Mani's career after that remained on a lowlight as he failed to attain box office success. His following efforts were the Malayalam film Unaru (1984), which starred Mohanlal and then two Tamil films, the first being Pagal Nilavu followed by Idaya Kovil.
Finally in 1986, Mani attained commercial success in Tamil Nadu through the Tamil language romantic drama Mouna Ragam with Revathi and Mohan. The film told the story of friction between a newly-wed couple, and remains famous to date as a relevant and realistic portrayal of romance among urban Tamils. Its score by Ilaiyaraaja became a huge success upon release. Mani's status elevated further a year later writing Nayagan, directing an already versatile actor of Tamil cinema, Kamal Hassan for the film, which went on to become a legendary success in the industry. The film, which tells the story of an orphaned slum dweller and his rise to top of the Mumbai underworld hierarchy, was included in TIME Magazine's
Early 1990s
With commercial success coming back to back, Ratnam wrote and directed Agni Natchathiram. The film was notable for use of new techniques in terms of camera framework, especially during the shoot of songs in the film. The film had a successful run in the box office. Mani later returned to familiar territory of winning critical acclaim through his next film made in Telugu, named Geethanjali. The film which starred Nagarjuna in the lead role told the story of an ill-fated couple who are both suffering from terminal diseases. Ratnam maintained a momentum of making emotional stories of undeserved people through the Raghuvaran starring Chennai release Anjali in 1990. The film told the story of an autistic child and how she changed the lives of people in colony. Mani later made another underworld-themed Tamil film with Thalapathi in 1991 starring Rajnikanth and Mammooty. With a theme of friendship between a local don and a slum king, Thalapathi earned both critical acclaim and commercial success upon release. Thalapathi is unique in a sense that it is of the rare films with 2 climaxes. The Tamil and Telugu versions end with Mamooty's death where Rajinikanth is considered a matinee-idol. The Malayalam version ends with Rajini's death where Mamootty is based.
With Thalapathi, Mani ended his association with music director Ilaiyaraaja, bringing in debutante music director A. R. Rahman to score his Tamil epic Roja. It turned out to be Mani's greatest findings as Rahman would go on to become a musical legend on his own right in the annals of Indian cinema. Roja, a romantic film, tackled themes of terrorism in the regions of Kashmir. The film – starring Arvind Swamy and Madhoo – was released in 1992 and nominated for the Golden St. George Award at the Moscow International Film Festival and became so popular that it was dubbed into other languages and met similar success in other regions. Mani then took a more light-hearted approach with his next film – Thiruda Thiruda. Scripted by Ram Gopal Varma, the film saw the exploration of comedy action, a departure from the norm for Ratnam, and fared less well at the box office. In 1994, a retrospective of his Tamil films was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 1995, Ratnam returned to Tamil language drama. Bombay starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala told the story of a Hindu-Muslim couple in the midst of the 1993 religious Bombay riots and bombings. The film courted controversy and censorship upon release. However Bombay was well received and well appreciated by the critics. It won the Special Award from the Political Film Society.
Late 1990s
Again in 1995, Ratnam co-wrote and co-produced his wife Suhasini Mani Ratnam's directorial debut Indira. The film is a woman-centralized story, with Suhasini's cousin Anu Haasan playing the lead role. But failed to succeed at the box office. Ratnam returned to direction the following year with Iruvar, starring Mohanlal & Prakash Raj, a film that Ratnam himself considers to be his finest effort to date. Inspired by the real life story of iconic Tamil film star and politician MG Ramachandran and also current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, it was hailed critically as a fine effort in film-making, winning Best Film at the Festival of the Auteur Films in Belgrade.
Ratnam decided to charter new territories in with his next film, making his debut in Hindi language films with Dil Se. The film starred the Mumbai star Shahrukh Khan with Manisha Koirala. Ratnam used the conflict in the north eastern states as a backdrop to tell a love story between an Indian journalist and a north eastern woman. The film was particularly famous for the song Chaiyya Chaiyya which was shot atop a moving train. Ratnam returned to Chennai based Tamil films after that and directed the romance drama Alaipayuthey (which has been remade in Hindi as "Saathiya") in 2000, starring R. Madhavan and Shalini. Alaipayuthey was a huge success both commercially and critically, as it explored post-marital problems between a young couple who married beyond their parents' consent, and also returned Ratnam's position as a box office factor.
2000–present
Ratnam's following effort, Kannathil Muthamittal saw Ratnam tackling adoption through the eyes of a Tamil refugee girl from Sri Lanka searching for her biological mother. The film was a critically lauded commercial success, winning six National Film Awards, Ratnam's second Filmfare Award South for directing, awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. In 2004, Mani made his second Hindi language effort with Yuva. The film, which tells the story of three different youths and how one incident sends their three lives on a collision course, received positive reviews and was a hit in the box office. Ratnam also made the film simultaneously in Tamil as Aayutha Ezhuthu. The film was an average at the Tamil box office, but critics favored the Tamil version to the Hindi version. Ratnam also had his first heart attack during shooting for Yuva.
2007 saw Ratnam direct the Madras Talkies production Guru starring Abhishek Bachchan. It became one of 2007's biggest hits. Currently, Ratnam is working on a bilingual film being made in both Tamil and Hindi. The film has been tentatively titled Ashokavanam in Tamil and Raavan in Hindi.
Filmography
The following is the list of films directed by Mani Ratnam. Many of his films have been dubbed or remade in several languages. For many of his films, Mani Ratnam is also credited for the story, screenplay and producing:
As a Director
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)
- Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001) - Story, Screenplay & Producer
- Saathiya (2002) - Screenplay (Movie is a re-make of Alaipayutahey and was directed by his assistant Shaad Ali) and Producer (Madras Talkies). Won Filmfare Best Screenplay Award for the film.
- Five Star (2003) - Producer (Madras Talkies) Directed by his assistant Susi Ganesan, this film didn't hit box office but it attain a good critical acclaim
- Sathriyan (17-Oct-1990) - Story,Screenplay and Producer but Directed by K. Subhash, big hit
Stage Productions
- Netru, Indru, Naalai (2006)
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
- 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.
Themes
- Mani Ratnam oftens makes movies inspired by real-life events: Nayagan is loosely based on Varadarajan Mudaliar, an underworld Don in Mumbai at that time[6]; Bombay based on the ethnic war between Hindus and Muslims in Mumbai; Iruvar based on Tamil Nadu political and cinematic icons, M.G. Ramachandran and Karunanidhi; Kannathil Muthamittal based on the Sri Lankan Civil War and Aayutha Ezhuthu on student politics. Guru was loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
- His movies often portray strong friendship. Examples are seen from Rajni-Mammooty in Thalapathi, Surya-Siddarth in Aayutha Ezhuthu, Prasanth-Anand in Thiruda Thiruda,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 Natchathiramand Simran-Keerthana in Kannathil Muthamittal
- He takes the credits for introducing the "then" Miss World Aishwarya Rai in dual roles in his film Iruvar.It was her very first attempt to the celluloid after her stupendous victory at the beauty pageant.
See also
References
- ^ Bal, Mieke (2004), Narrative Theory: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies, Taylor and Francis, pp. 339-44, ISBN 0415316618
- ^ Pat Padua (2001). "FROM THE HEART: The Films of Mani Ratnam". CineScene. http://www.cinescene.com/names/maniratnam.html. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ a b "Awards for Mani Ratnam". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711745/awards. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
- ^ a b "Time 100: Nayakan". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,nayakan,00.html. Retrieved January 22 2007.
- ^ a b "Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies List". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html. Retrieved January 22 2007.
- ^ "Nayagan". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayagan. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
Further reading
- Chaudhuri, Shohini (2005). "Cinema of South India and Sri Lanka". Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 074861799X.
- Terska Ciecko, Anne (2006). "National Cinema and State Authority". Contemporary Asian Cinema: Popular culture in a Global Frame. Berg: Berg Publishers. ISBN 1845202376.
- Gopalan, Lalitha (2005). Bombay: BFI Film Classics. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85170-956-7.
- Nagappan, Ramu (2005). "Momentary Pleasures of Reconciliation". Speaking Havoc: Social Suffering & South Asian Narratives. Washington: University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295984889. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wdAgle6tCVoC&printsec=frontcover#PPA170,M1.
- Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Routledge. ISBN 9780415396806.
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
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
