Coming after an era of movies that had over-the-top sets, dazzling colour contrasts and theatrical elements, his movies were a breath of fresh air. With day-to-day elements creating the base for his scenes, his frames were classy, believable and made the viewer yearn for more. His movies have always been a mix of commercial and artistic sensibilities. More than that, his movies give the audiences some food for thought while entertaining them. Not one to shy away from picturing the current situation in the society, his movies have made his point many times. Classic examples are the Kashmir war in Roja, the LTTE issue in Kannathil Mutthamittal and the Bombay riots in Bombay.
Women always find paramount importance in his script whether as a mother, a friend, a girlfriend or a wife. They are remarkably well-written female characters that weave in and out of the script effortlessly but at the end, leave a big impact on the minds of the viewers. Strong female characterization has always been his forte and he has proved this time and again. Whether it was Saranya Ponvannan as Kamal Hassan’s wife in Nayagan or more recently, Nithya Menen in OK Kanmani, these characters took the movie to a whole new level and are still remembered.
Mani Ratnam also has a unique way of making women fall head over heels in love with his male leads. Macho on the outside, but incredibly soft and sensitive on the inside, these men connected with the women outside the screen and had a fan following that spanned generations. Who can forget the chirpy character of Karthik in Mouna Ragam or the utterly lovable Arvind Swamy in Roja or the shy yet naughty Madhavan in Alaipayuthey?
We pick 10 classic hits of Mani Ratnam that the 90's generation will cherish forever in their hearts!
MOUNA RAGAM
The movie was a rage as it dealt with social subjects on different levels. Even though the audience weren't ready for such a script, he gave it them anyway. Mani Ratnam has always been way ahead in his thinking and script. This movie was about a girl who does not want to get married because of her past love but is forcibly married and the first thing she asks her husband is for a divorce. Karthik who appears in the flashback scenes as Revathi's lover made girls go gaga over him. He was this casual and rebellious youngster who surprised Revathi at every turn. Don't we all want a guy a like that?
NAYAKAN
Featured in the TIME's '100 movies you should watch before you die' list, this movie is a cult classic. Loosely based on the English movie Godfather and the life of a Mumbai don named Varadharaja Mudhaliar, this movie has Kamal Haasan play the Robinhood of the Tamils living in Mumbai. The film dealt with the notions of what is right and wrong. One famous scene from the movie is where Kamal's grandchild asks him if he is a good person or a bad person to which Kamal says he does not know. The film delivered the message that a human is neither black or white, but is grey.
AGNI NATCHATHIRAM
Talking about a person who had two wives was a taboo and here was Mani Ratnam who went ahead and made a interesting tale out of it! The scenes where Prabhu and Karthik absolutely loathe each other is exactly what those families would go through. Mani Ratnam is also quoted as saying that this movie in reality, patched up many families that lived this way! The heroines in the movie too, came with their share of experiences and there is so much of depth to each character's portrayal.
ROJA
A tale of a wife whose husband gets kidnapped by terrorists proved to be a heart-wrenching and nail biting movie! Although the movie was a serious one, it had its fair share of laughs in the first half when Arvind Swamy meets Madhubala at her village before they got married. After marriage, Arvind Swamy plays pranks with his fearful new bride by making her smoke! Everybody wanted a husband like Arvind Swamy after this movie became a chart buster!
IRUVAR
Though this movie was not a commercial success, it is one of the cult classic of Indian cinema industry. This is a story of two politicians who begin their career together, grow big in their field and then fall apart due to their ego and hunger for power. Sometimes we have an invisible competition with someone in our life and this story is about that relationship. Mohanlal and Prakashraj are always aware of each other and follow what the other does. The story concludes with Mohanlal's death and Prakashraj in a epic monologue tells us, how much his friend really meant to him. This movie was loosely based on the friendship and rivalry that MGR and Karunanidhi shared.
ALAIPAYUTHEY
A breezy romance, this movie was a trend setter for an entire generation! Madhavan debuted in this movie and stole every young woman's heart. He was the perfect boyfriend and husband! The proposal scene is still used by guys as a spoof to sweep their girlfriend off their feet. This movie is probably the only movie in the 90's that put light on how a relationship changes when a couple gets married and what kind of things they go through. The 'Alaipayuthey marriage style' was a rage during the 90's!
AAYUTHA EZHUTHU
This experiment my Mani Ratnam to have three parallel story tracks and binding them into a climax was well received by the audience. Each story was so different from the other and even had different color palettes. Mani Ratnam always gives importance to the color tone of his movies as that is one major factor to bring about the different moods to a particular scene.
GURU
Mani Ratnam is known for shooting movies completely in India. He is not a director who thinks foreign locations are important for the revenue for a film. Guru is the only movie where the cast and crew shot abroad in Turkey as the story needed it. Abhishek Bachchan works in Turkey, earns a lot of money to come home and start his own business venture. This movie was loosely based on the life of Dhirrbhai Ambani and his success story.
RAAVANAN
Mani Ratnam admitted in an interview that this movie was one of the difficult movies he did in his career. Raavanan was Ratnam's interpretation of Ramayana. He chose Raavanan as the hero of the film and the story revolves around the 14 days when Sita was kept hostage at Raavanan's kingdom. The movie was a cinematic excellence and script proved to be one of the most difficult to shoot.
OH KADHAL KANMANI
Audience have always been amazed by how Mani Ratnam's scripts still appeal to youngsters. He understands the emotions and the mindsets of the youth better than most filmmakers. At the age of 60 he made a movie about a couple who are in a live-in relationship and did a perfect job at it. The lead characters played by Dulquer and Nitya are a modern couple who fall in love and do not want that to come in between achieving their dreams. They are unsure of where their relationship is going as both want different things for themselves and finally they find a way to incorporate their career and love.