Some names, some films, some stories influence us to such an extent that we leave our seats and immerse ourselves into the reel lives. One such name is Mani Ratnam. There would hardly be any movie buff who hasn’t watched or heard about Mani Ratnam’s films. Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam, famously known as Mani Ratnam is considered to be one of the finest filmmakers in India, who has marked his career with some exceptionally magical films. Starting his career with Kannada film ‘Pallavi Anu Pallavi‘, Mani Ratnam eventually turned to Telugu, Hindi and even Malayalam films but his biggest contribution has always and will always belong to Tamil film industry. May it be Kamal Hasan starrer ‘Nayakan‘ or Arvind Swamy starrer ‘Roja‘ or even R Madhavan starrer ‘Alaipayuthey‘, we simply loved them.
Today is the birthday of this proficient director, screenwriter, and producer, and team Bollywood Bee wishes him a very hearty and happy one! As it’s impossible to point out only a few exceptional movies of Mani Ratnam, team Bollywood Bee is attempting towards highlighting 5 elements in Mani Ratnam films that make them exceptionally beautiful and outstanding.
Crafting Of Story
A story is the foundation of any good film. But crafting a really good story in a subtle way requires skills. Ratnam has always managed to craft the story in such a magical way that we remain nothing but intrigued. It certainly contributes towards his cinema in a phenomenal way, resembling and capturing the truth of human nature and emotions.
Direction And Technical Collaborations
A director is considered to be the captain of the ship and one can easily state that Ratnam has managed to sail through the process of film development in a real graceful way. Apart from his skillful execution and direction capturing the essence of actors’ talent and requirement of the storyline, Ratnam’s technical collaborations are also critically appraised. Right from the beginning of his career, his works were noted for their technical expertise in areas such as cinematography, art direction and, editing too.
Socio-Political Environment
Ratnam has realised the fact that any art is a subtle way to comment on current socio-political scenarios and always used that factor in his films. Be it ‘Roja’ or ‘Dil Se..’ commenting on the issues of Kashmiri militants or ‘Bombay’ commenting on the ‘93 riots or ‘Aaytha Ezhuthu’ commenting on youth and their participation in politics, Ratnam sketched the real-life scenarios on screen too well.
Music
Mani Ratnam films are lauded for their beautiful soundtracks and background score. Initially, Ratnam preferred to feature Ilaiyaraaja who is credited for his western music sensibilities in south Indian cinema. But after his long relationship with Ilaiyaraaja, Ratnam decided to introduce a newcomer, A.R. Rahman in Roja and since then there is no turning back for this duo. Rahman has always made his presence felt in Mani Ratnam films in such a way that music doesn’t just accompany the film but becomes one with it. This god-gifted duo is considered to be one of the most successful director-music composer combinations in the Indian Film Industry.
The End
It might be perceived as the simplest thing but the end is one of the important aspects of any film which can make or break the film in a real brutal way. Apparently, Mani Ratnam has seemed to have acquired the skill of ending the cinema in a way that the end provokes our emotions and makes us comfortably numb to the extent that the film impacts our thoughts aggressively.
Well, we are fortunate to have you, Mani Ratnam.
Happy Birthday, once again.
