Sangati Jogwar

News Highlights

  • Legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam turns a day older today.
  • Here are a few interesting lesser-known facts about the PS2 director.

Legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam turns a year older today. Over the years, this South Indian film director has given many memorable hits and some out-of-the-box content that has changed the face of Indian cinema.

Mani was one of the first few directors who knew how to use the new technology and the right screenplay so that even a complicated story can be brought alive on the screen in a lucid manner.

Be it Roja, Iruvar, Dil Se, Bombay, or even PS1 and PS2, Mani Ratnam has always been open to new ideas and taking up challenges. Undoubtedly, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is one of his biggest contributions to the film industry, but over the years Mani has never stopped surprising her fans too.

The way he rose up after his movies flopped and bounced back is proof enough that he is one person who has the spirit and courage to fight all the odds and rise up again.

Lesser known facts about Mani Ratnam

His original name is Gopal Ratnam Subramaniam Iyer and although he is Tamilian by birth he made his debut in movies with a Kannada film Pallavi Anupallavi starring Anil Kapoor and Lakshmi.

Mani Ratnam started his career directly as a director and prior to his first Kannada film, he had never worked with any big director as an assistant. That is why Mani’s style is quite unique and not inspired by anyone else.

Legendary Balu Mahendra worked as a photographer for Mani’s first movie despite knowing that he does not have any experience in this field.

A complete vegetarian, it was Mani who gave the opportunity to young AR Rahman with Roja which turned out to be a major milestone in both the director and music composer’s life. Prior to that, Mani Ratnam always worked with Illyaraja.

The latest collaboration of Mani and Rahman PS1 and PS2 has been unforgettable.

Mani was the first to understand the growing need to use more technology in the movies and had worked with some of the top-notch technicians in the country including P C Sreeram, Sreekar Prasad, Rajeev Menon, Santosh Sivan, Ram Gopal Varma and Ravi K Chandran.

Mani Ratnam has made movies in four languages including Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Telugu, and his Nayagan is one of the few Indian movies listed in Time Magazine’s 100 best movies of all time.

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