Mani Ratnam is one of the most popular and richest Director who was born on June 2, 1956 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. He is one of the most important directors in Indian cinema. His award-winning films, including Mouna Ragam and Geethanjali were well-known.
P., a fellow Indian director, was also nominated. Bharathiraja and P.
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), commonly known by his screen name Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Ratnam has won six National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.
Mani Ratnam was not satisfied with his job as a consultant as he found it to be a mere extension of his academics. During this time his friend Ravi Shankar, son of director B. R. Panthulu, was in the process of making his first film. Mani Ratnam, Ravi Shankar and another friend, Raman son of filmmaker S. Balachander, worked on the script of the film. Mani Ratnam took a sabbatical from his job in order to ensure his participation in the making of the film. Being inexperienced, the makers were largely dependent upon the American Cinematographer magazine. The principal cast included Vishnuvardhan, Srinath, Ambarish, Lakshmi, and Roja Ramani. When the filming was about to begin in Kolar, Karnataka, Mani Ratnam left his consulting job and joined the crew. The film, however, did not take off and was eventually shelved. Nevertheless, he was firm in his idea of becoming a film-maker. Although not impressed with many of the films made in Tamil cinema, he was “amazed” at P. Bharathiraja’s 16 Vayathinile (1977), K.Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal (1975), and J. Mahendran’s Mullum Malarum (1978) and Uthiripookkal (1979). During this time, he befriended a group of people namely P. C. Sreeram, Santhana Bharathi, and P. Vasu, who shared his interest of entering into the film industry.
G. Venkateswaran, his brother, and G. Srinivasan, were both film producers.
