Rajinikanth’s Thalapathi, Aishwarya Rai’s Guru – 10 Mani Ratnam movies that you must watch before Kaatru Veliyidai

Let’s start off this feature with a little trivia – did you know that Mani Ratnam‘s real name was Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam and despite being born in a filmy family, he had no interest in film-making when he was growing up? Thank God, he finally found some interest, otherwise India would have one less director who is consistently brilliant, and we would have lost out on some superb gems like Roja and Bombay. Mani Ratnam is a class act when it comes to direction, he is a living breathing textbook on how to make layered movies, and many film-makers like Ram Gopal Varma, Shaad Ali, Gautham Menon are influenced by his works.

On the eve of his latest release, Kaatru Veliyidai starring Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari, I look at 10 of my most favourite movies made by one of my favourite directors and list them here for you. So if you are interested in checking out more of his work, make sure you rent out the below masterpieces of Mani Ratnam. Sorry, fans of Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen, no space for OK Kanmani here.

Mouna Ragam

Think Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, but more realistic in approach and where Salman Khan’s character is dead. Mouna Ragam shows Mani Ratnam’s perfect handling of relationships when circumstances play the villain. A woman (a superb Revathi) is married to a businessman (Mohan), though she still hasn’t gotten over the death of her lover (Karthik). Though her husband is willing to forget her past and wait patiently for her to come to him, she insists that they can never lead a happy life. How they deal with their relationship ahead is what the movie is all about. Filled with some brilliant performances and helped by a nuanced screenplay, Mani Ratnam made a proper mark as a master director here. Mouna Ragam also got a bland remake in Rishi Kapoor and Neelam-starrer Kasak, that shows what happens when you take the touch of a master director from a plot.

Nayagan

It’s very strange that Kamal Haasan never worked with Mani Ratnam after Nayagan, because the movie was an absolute masterclass when it comes to making a gangster drama. Nayagan is India’s answer to The Godfather, and has Kamal Haasan deliver one of his finest performances, as the movie shows his arc from being a reluctant slumlord to an aging, repentant don. The movie won him his second National Award for the Best Actor, while TIME has chosen Nayagan in its “All-Time 100 Best Films”. Again, this was remade into Bollywood as Dayavan, which is only worth remembering for that awkward, lingering kiss between Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit.

Thalapathi

While Nayagan is definitely a masterpiece of a movie, I have a personal soft corner for this gangster drama, made by Mani Ratnam. Deriving inspiration from the legendary friendship between Duryodhana and Karna from Mahabharata, Thalapathi narrates the tale of friendship between a powerful don (Mammootty) and his right-hand man (Rajinikanth), even when their reign is almost threatened by the advent of an honest Collector (Arvind Swamy). Especially when he happens to be Rajinikanth’s step-brother, though the former is not aware of this. The movie has some intense moments of thrills and emotional drama, and relies on the powerful performances from Mammootty and Rajinikanth. This has to be my favourite gangster drama of all time.

Roja

Though Mani Ratnam was always looked as a brilliant director down South, it was Roja that made him famous all over India. Roja was also his first movie to be dubbed into several languages. Sensitively packaging a love story with terrorism crisis, Rojagets high marks on narration, technical values and performances (especially from Pankaj Kapur as the icy terrorist head). Roja also marks the debut of AR Rahman as a music composer and you still love his gems from the movie like Chinna Chinna Aasai, Rukamani Rukamani, Pudu Vellai Mazhai and others.

Bombay

Roja was the first of his political trilogy, and after a misfire in Thiruda Thiruda (where he attempted a heist thriller with little success), he returned back to the trilogy with Bombay. And what a movie it turned out to be! Released at a time when India was still reeling from the depressing aftermath of the Babri Masjid riots, Mani Ratnam showed he had the guts to tackle such a sensitive issue without exploiting the milieu. Though it was quite controversial during its release, people began to realise that Bombay was not about riots; it was more about love and communal harmony, something that the country needed that moment. Plus, AR Rahman continued his terrific form spinning out brilliant songs like Humma Humma, Uyire etc.

 

Iruvar

Iruvar was a rare flop in Mani Ratnam’s blistering career (followed by another in Dil Se…) in the ’90s. But commercial failure is an injustice to this gem of a movie that is a brilliant view of friendship and relationships set against the backdrop of political movement. A fictionalised account of the political foray of late MGR, late Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, it has an ensemble cast in Mohanlal, Prakash Raj (winning a National Award here), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (in her debut movie), Tabu and Gauthami. The movie’s heavy-handed political themes, and the controversies surrounding the plot, may have resulted in the movie not working at the box office, but it remains one of the best made political dramas in India.

Alaipayuthey

After some heavy dosage movies, Mani Ratnam decided to go a little light by making this romantic entertainer, that marked the big screen lead debut of R Madhavan and endeared Shalini to Tamil audiences. But I might be wrong in calling Alaipayuthey as a light entertainer. Sure the romance between the leads is cute, and we cheer for them when they rebels against their parents, elope and get married. Most movies end here, but not this one. Mani Ratnam pulls the rug out from our comfortable feet, and shows us that life is not a bed full of roses even if you end up marrying your soul mate. Guess, that’s why we never wanted to have a sequel to DDLJ!

Kannathil Muthammital

It’s a shame that this well-written, well-directed family drama has not been successful as Bombay and Roja. Kannathil Muthammital is about how a family helps their adopted daughter find her real parents and how that search leads them to LTT-ridden Jaffna. R Madhavan and Simran, who play the adoptive parents, deliver terrific performance, but it’s the child actress, P. S. Keerthana, who is the life and soul of the movie. Filled with heart-wrenching moments, the movie will leave you teary-eyed by the time the end credits start rolling.

Yuva/Aayutha Ezhuthu

Another Mani Ratnam (actually two) movie that has aged well with time, though the Bollywood version had a lukewarm response when it released at the box office. This was the first time he attempted to make a movie in two languages, with a nearly different set of actors for both Hindi and Tamil versions, and also attempt a multi-thread narrative a la Amores Perros. The attempt worked fine, as Mani Ratnam meshes ganster genre, student politics, and youthful romance in an engaging manner, and also extracted fine performance from his cast.

Guru

This was an Abhishek Bachchan movie as much as it was a Mani Ratnam movie. Guru was Abhishek’s finest performance, something he had a hard task to match up to, while Mani Ratnam attempted to make a biopic-life inspirational tale of a go-getter, without being a biopic. The climatic speech is one of the best monologues delivered in Indian cinema. Apart from Abhishek, even the rest of the cast, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, R Madhavan and Vidya Balan, pitch in admirable acts.