Mani Ratnam

Mani Ratnam (born June 2, 1956, Madura [now Madurai], Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian filmmaker noted for his popular films, especially in Tamil- and Hindi-language (commonly called Bollywood) cinema. His work within the conventional parameters of commercial cinema is characterized by experimentation in imagery, use of color and lighting, camera movement, and editing. He is best known for films such as Nayakan (1987; “Hero”), Roja (1992; “Rose”), Dil Se.. (1998; “From the Heart”), and Guru (2007).

Early life and entry into films

Ratnam is the son of film producer Ratnam Iyer. He obtained a management degree at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies at the University of Bombay (now the University of Mumbai) before foraying into filmmaking in the early 1980s. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada-language film Pallavi Anu Pallavi in 1983. The success of Mouna Ragam (1986; “A Silent Symphony”) established him as a talented director in Tamil-language cinema. Often considered his greatest film, Nayakan, based on the life of Mumbai underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar, was a skillful reworking of Francis Ford Coppola’s Hollywood masterpiece The Godfather (1972). Nayakan starred legendary actor Kamal Haasan and was India’s official entry for best foreign language film at the 60th Academy Awards, though it did not make the short list.

Ratnam’s early cinematic work was usually complemented by musical scores by the prolific composer Ilaiyaraaja and the visuals of noted cinematographer and director P.C. Sreeram. The style of music videos was a strong influence on the song-and-dance sequences in Agni Natchathiram (1988; “Fiery Star”), Gitanjali (1989), Anjali (1990), and Thalapathi (1991; “Commander”).

Political films and Bollywood

Beginning in the 1990s, Ratnam’s films examined political issues. Many of them were dubbed in Hindi and found a large audience among speakers of the language. Roja dealt with terrorism in Kashmir. The film also marked the debut of Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, who worked on nearly all of Ratnam’s later films. Bombay (1995) depicted the 1992–93 sectarian riots that rocked the title metropolis (now called Mumbai) following the demolition of the Babri Masjid (“Mosque of Babur”) in Ayodhya by Hindu nationalists. Both movies were filmed in Tamil and later dubbed in Hindi. His first Hindi-language movie, Dil Se.., frames the story of a radio reporter who falls in love with a woman trained as a suicide bomber within the context of insurgency in northeast India.

In Tamil, he made Iruvar (1997; “The Duo”), a dramatization of M.G. Ramachandran and Muthuvel Karunanidhi’s friendship against the backdrop of Tamil cinema and Dravidian politics. He regards it as his finest work despite the film facing censorship and commercial failure. He also directed Kannathil Muthamittal (2002; A Peck on the Cheek), which is set in war-torn Sri Lanka and is about an adopted girl searching for her birth mother.

The political drama Yuva (2004; “Youth”) saw Ratnam return to Hindi-language cinema after six years. Ratnam also simultaneously made a Tamil-language version of Yuva, called Aayitha Ezhuthu (“Special Character”), with a different cast. His next film, the Hindi-language Guru, was set in the 1950s and was based on the rise to fortune of tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited. The Hindi-language Raavan (2010) and its simultaneously shot Tamil version, Raavanan, were a contemporary reimagining of the Hindu epic Ramayana.

Ratnam’s later films included the romantic OK Kanmani (2015; also called O Kadhal Kanmani) and the Vijay Sethupathi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018; “Crimson Red Sky”), about a power struggle in a crime family; both were in Tamil. In 2019 Ratnam began working on a two-film series, Ponniyin Selvan, based on Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy’s historical fiction novel set in the Chola empire (9th–13th century ce)—a story Ratnam had wanted to adapt for more than three decades. Both Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (2023) were massive critical and box-office hits. Ratnam and Haasan reunited in 2025 for the Tamil-language action drama Thug Life, their first collaboration since Nayakan. Despite high expectations, the film received a lukewarm response from audiences amid controversies surrounding the age gap between the lead actors and Haasan’s remarks on the origin of the Kannada language.

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Awards and recognition

Ratnam received the prestigious Padma Shri award, India’s fourth highest civilian honor, in 2002. Ratnam’s movies have won National Film Awards across several categories, including best feature film in Tamil for Ponniyin Selvan: Part I, Kannathil Muthamittal, Anjali, and Mouna Ragam. He has also been awarded Filmfare Awards for his Bollywood movies Bombay and Yuva. His films have been conferred the Filmfare Awards South on seven occasions, including six wins for best director. In 2005 Time magazine included Nayakan in its list of the 100 greatest movies of all time, alongside films by two of India’s most renowned filmmakers, Satyajit Ray and Guru Dutt.