Mani Ratnam

For the 1994 Tamil film, see Mani Rathnam (film). For the 2014 Malayalam film, see Money Ratnam.
In this Indian name, the name Gopalaratnam is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Subramaniam or his professional name Mani Ratnam.

Mani Ratnam
Ratnam in April 2015
Born
Gopalaratnam Subramaniam

(1956-06-02) 2 June 1956 (age 68)
Madurai, Madras State, India
Alma materJamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies
Occupations
Years active1983–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
​
(m. 1988)​
Children1
Relatives
AwardsFull list
HonoursPadma Shri (2002)

Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films.[1] He is one of India's most acclaimed and commercially successful filmmakers.[citation needed] Ratnam has won seven National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South,[2] 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.

Despite being born into a film family, Mani Ratnam did not develop any interest in films when he was young.[3] Upon completion of his post graduation in management, he started his career as a consultant.[3] He entered the film industry through the 1983 Kannada film, Pallavi Anu Pallavi. The failure of his subsequent films would mean that he would be left with fewer offers. After working in Telugu and Malayalam Cinema, he made his major breakthrough with Mouna Ragam (1986), established him as a leading filmmaker in Tamil cinema which won him his first Filmfare Best Director Award. He was the director of the critically acclaimed Nayakan (1987) and Anjali (1990), both of which qualified as India's official entry for The Academy Awards. He found success with the crime drama Thalapathi, romantic terrorism drama Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Dil Se.. (1998), and his romantic trilogy of Mouna Ragam (1986), Alai Payuthey (2000), O Kadhal Kanmani (2015).

Each of his films contain its own unique style, with beautifully photographed songs and unique back-lighting. Exploring success in romantic, terrorism war and drama films. His epic historical dramas, Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023), based on the Indian epic written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, were critical and commercial blockbusters with the former becoming the 25th highest-grossing film in India and 5th highest-grossing Tamil film.

  1. ^ "Fantastic that films now recognised as Indian, not from north, or south: Mani Ratnam". The Indian Express. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Everyone loves the black lady". The Times of India. 12 August 2007. Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "66 things you probably didn't know about the living legend Mani Ratnam". HT Media. Retrieved 7 June 2024.