Mani Ratnam was born on 02 June 1956 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu as the second child of Ratnam Iyer – a family that was closely associated with film production. Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam known as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Mani 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 award.
Mani Ratnam was married to actress Suhasini on 26 August 1988. The couple have a son named Nandan, who was born in 1992. In 1986, Mani directed the Tamil romantic drama Mouna Ragam, which starred Revathi and Mohan. The film was critically acclaimed for portraying urban Tamils in a realistic manner. The music scored by Ilaiyaraaja was appreciated and became popular. Mouna Raagam was subsequently dubbed into Telugu under the same title and became a hit in Andhra Pradesh. This film elevated Maniratnam’s status as a director, and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 34th National Film Awards.
In 1987, ManiRatnam directed Nayakan starring Kamal Haasan and the film became a huge success and brought him recognition at the national level. After Thalapathy, Mani ended his long term association with music director Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja and bringing in debutant music director A.R. Rahman to put music for his Tamil classic film Roja (1992) starring Aravind Swamy and Madhoo. The venture was successful and has earned Mani various awards. Roja, a romantic film, was about terrorism in the Kashmir region. It became highly popular, gained an iconic status for Maniratnam in Indian cinema.
Mani produced his wife’s directorial debut film, Indira. In 2000, Mani directed the romantic drama Alaipayuthey starred R. Madhavan and Shalini. His next film, Kannathil Muthamittal, dealt with the story of a Sri Lankan child adopted by Indian parents, who wishes to meet her biological mother during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The film was commercially successful and has won six National Film Awards, Filmfare Award for Best Direction in Tamil.
Director Maniratnam’s current project is confirmed to be Ponniyin Selvan, based on the Indian epic written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The film stars Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Aishwarya Rai, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Trisha, Lal, Ashwin Kakumanu, Prabhu, Sarathkumar, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vikram Prabhu and many more plays prominent roles. The venture is jointly produced by Mani Ratnam and Subaskaran under their banners Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman. Ponniyin Selvan will be releasing in Two-parts and the first part to be released in 2022.
The Government of India honoured director Maniratnam with Padma Shri in 2002. He has won several National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Awards South and state awards.
