41 years of Mani Ratnam – How the Ponniyin Selvan director reinvented himself and stayed relevant all through these years

Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest filmmakers Indian cinema has ever produced. The veteran director, who began his film career in 1983 with the Kannada romantic drama Pallavi Anu Pallavi, established himself as one of the most sought-after talents of Tamil cinema over the years with his extraordinary films. Many of the famous directors of Tamil cinema, including Gautham Vasudev Menon and Karthik Subbaraj, have often mentioned how Mani Ratnam's films inspired them to become filmmakers.

Well, not just filmmakers, but Mani Ratnam's films made quite a lot of cine-goers across the globe fall in love with both the Tamil language and the film industry. For most of them, the veteran director’s films are the definition of love stories and well-crafted dramas. Meanwhile, Mani Ratnam never stopped learning and growing as cinema reached new heights and is still competing with the finest talents of cinema at the age of 68.

Now, let’s have a look at Mani Ratnam’s illustrious career and how he reinvented himself and stayed relevant all through these years...

The debut and initial years

For the uninitiated, Mani Ratnam is one of those very rare filmmakers who made their directorial debut without learning filmmaking or assisting any established directors of that time. At the age of 27, MBA holder Gopalaratnam Subramaniam left his budding career as a management consultant to make films, leaving both his family and friends in shock. According to the Roja director, it was K Balachander's films that first inspired him to become a director.

Mani Ratnam made his first film in Kannada, Pallavi Anu Pallavi, with the future Bollywood superstar Anil Kapoor and Lakshmi in the lead roles. However, he found success in his career with Mounaragam, the 1986-released romantic drama that featured Revathy, Mohan, and Karthik in the lead roles. Even before that, Mani Ratnam made a name for himself in the South Indian film industry with films that dealt with unconventional themes, including his only Malayalam films Unaru, Pagal Nilavu, and Idaya Kovil.

Also Read: Classic Pick – Why Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam is relevant even after 37 years of its release? 

Nayakan and beyond

Mani Ratnam established himself as one of the finest Tamil filmmakers of his generation with Nayakan, the Kamal Haasan-starring epic crime drama film that hit theatres in 1987. The movie, which was based on the life of the real-life don Varadaraja Mudaliar, was inspired by the Hollywood classic The Godfather. Later, Mani Ratnam once again surprised the viewers, who were expecting him to do more gangster films, by making the family drama Agni Natchathiram and the tragic romance Geethanjali.

With his extraordinary filmography thereafter, which included quite a few iconic films including Anjali, Thalapathi, Roja, Thiruda Thiruda, Bombay, Iruvar, and Dil Se, Mani Ratnam proved again and again that he is an unpredictable filmmaker. He also ended his longtime association with maestro Ilaiyaraaja after the release of Thalapathi, citing that he wanted to explore new territories in music. Mani Ratnam decided to launch a young talent named AR Rahman with his 1992-released Roja, and the rest is history. They still continue to be the most iconic director-music composer duo in Tamil cinema.

Also Read: Mani Ratnam on Vetrimaaran, Mari Selvaraj’s films and social media: 5 revelations made by the Ponniyin Selvan director 

Reinventing himself

Mani Ratnam stunned audiences with his 2000-released iconic romantic drama Alaipayuthey, which was a completely new cinematic experience for the audience at that time. The filmmaker later proved that age is just a number by making quite a few of the path-breaking films Kannathil Mutthamittal, Aayutha Ezhuthu, Guru, Raavanan, O Kadhal Kanmani, and others. Even though there were some disappointments in between in the forms of Kadal and Kaatru Veliyidai, he bounced back stronger.

Making Ponniyin Selvan

When the critics thought the Mani Ratnam era was almost nearing its end, the legendary filmmaker surprised both them and the industry by finally making his dream project Ponniyin Selvan, after a long wait of over 35 years, in his mid-60s. The director succeeded in pulling off the mammoth project with such a massive cast and crew throughout the pandemic. Still, he was brave enough to give his signature twist to Kalki Krishnamurthy’s novel, which received mixed reviews from audiences.

Also Read: Thug Life – Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s dream project to go on floors soon; major update is out 

Now, Mani Ratnam is finally set to reunite with his Nayakan leading man, Kamal Haasan, for his next outing, Thug Life. As someone who has followed the filmmaker’s career obsessively for many years, I am confident that the legend is yet again set to surprise his fans and cine-goers by trying something out of the box. And that is exactly what made Mani Ratnam stay relevant for over four decades. Irrespective of hits and flops, big successes, and painful failures, he kept on learning cinema and reinventing himself. Mani Ratnam is growing as cinema is growing, and this man has no limits.

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