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1. top 25 directors in tamil cinema : Mani
Ratnam
One of the most elegant and humble directors of tamil cinema would be Mr. Mani Ratnam. He
was born on 2nd
June 1956 as Gopala Ratnam Subramanium in Madurai. Ratnam was a
Management Consultant before entering cinema, and now, one of the foremost directors in
Indian Cinema. Probably Tamil industry is the most fortunate place to have such wonderful
directors.
Though his directorial debut film (Pallavi Anu Pallavi 1983), a kannada venture starring Anil
Kapoor and Lakshmi fetched him ‘Karnataka State Film Award’, success was still a long way
ahead. His further attempts like Unnaru(Malayalam) in the year1984, Pagal Nilavu(Tamil) in the
1985 did not fetch him any success at the box office.
However in the year 1986 his film “Mouna Raagam” gained a prominent place at the box office.
This is when Ratnam became a popular Director. And then came his National award winning
telugu flick “Geethanjali” in the year 1989 which was a commercial hit at the box office.
Ratnam’s “Nayagan” and “Anjali” bear the biggest honors for being submitted in the Best Forign
Language category for the Acadamy Award consideration by India. “Nayagan” along with
“Pyaasa”(by Guru Dutt) and “The Apu Trilogy”(by Sathyajith Ray) were the only indian films
for having appeared in the Time Magazine’s All Time 100 Greatest Movies.
Mani Ratnam’s father Ratnam Iyer, was a producer who worked under the banner, Venus
Pictures. Though Ratnam was born in Madurai , he grew up in Chennai, where he did his
schooling and graduation in Commerce. He worked as a Management Consultant , after
completing M.B.A through Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management. Ratnam is married to
actress Suhasini,(in 1988) daughter of Charuhasan. They have a son named Nandhan. He also

2. had two brothers G.Venkateshwaran, who produced most of his films and G.Srinivasan, also a
Producer.
Ratnam neither worked as an assistant or a cinematographer before stepping into the industry.
Unlike other directors he started off as a Director with his debut film Pallavi Anu Pallavi. After
his second film Unnaru in Malayalam , he directed Pagal Nilavu starring Murali and Revathi
which was his debut film in Tamil. Idaya kovil was also directed by him in the same year which
claimed success at the box office.
Thus the journey of our elegant director began with films like Mouna Raagam in the year 1986
starring Mohan and Revathi. A story between a newly-wed couple and the friction between the
two. Subsequently they decide to depart and that’s where the so called cupid arrow strikes them,
and there we go, with a happy ending. The narration of the story sweeps u off your feet with
Illayaraja’s beautiful BGM’s and mind-blowing songs. This film was also dubbed in telugu in
the same name which won National Film Award for Best Feature Film and Filmfare for Best
Tamil Director.
Nayagan (1987) Inspired by “The Godfather”, American Epic crime, also based on the true life
story of Varadarajan Mudaliyar. This film bagged 3 National Awards (Best Actor, Best
Cinematographer, and Best Art Director). Officially it also entered Oscars under the Best
Foreign Language Film category at the 60th
Academy Awards. His box office hits include Agni
Natchathiram(1988), story of rivalry between two combating step-brothers, who get along with
each at the end to save their father. Then we have Anjali,(1990), starring Raghuvaran and
Revathi, a story where an autistic child, although charming changes the life of people around her.
Thalapathi(1991), again an underworld theme with an adoption of portions from our Indian epic
Mahabaratham. Ilayaraja and Mani Ratnam constantly won Best Music Director and Best
Director at the 39th
Filmfare Awards. Roja (1992)A.R.Rehman’s debut film, starring Arvind
Swamy and Madhoo in the lead roles. Thiruda Thiruda (1993), a combo of Ram Gopal Verma’s
script and Ratnam’s screenplay was a huge success at the Box Office. Then we have another
huge hit Bombay(1995) first film to focus on Hindu-Muslim Inter caste marriage and the
problems faced by the couple during the Bombay riots and bombing. Ratnam produced
Indira(1996), Suhasini’s debut film. He also produced Asai(1995). Then we have Iruvar starring
Mohanlal , Aishwarya and Prakash Raj in the lead roles. A story based on Tamil Nadu’s then
leading elected officials’ friendship and their collision. Nerukku Ner again produced by Mani
Ratnam. Then the list includes Dil Se(1998), Alaipayuthe(2000), Dum Dum Dum(2001), which
was produced and written by Mani Ratnam.
In the year 2002, the film Kannathil Mutham Ittal bagged enormous number of awards and here
goes the list:
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil
Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director
Best Film Award at Jerusalem Film Festival

3. ITFA Best Director Award
Audience Award for Best Feature Film at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Audience Choice Award for Narrative Competition at RiverRun International Film Festival
Best Picture Award at Zimbabwe International Film Festival
Audience Award, Jury Award and a Special Award at Film Fest New Haven
Best International Film at Westchester Film Festival
Five star (production), Saathiya, Yuva starring Ajay Devgan, Vivekh Oberoi,Abhishek Bachchan
, Ayutha Ezhuthu starring Madhavan, Surya and Siddharth in the lead role, an action cum
romantic thriller, Guru, Raavan(hindi), Raavanan(Tamil) and finally Kadal(2013), debut film for
both Gautham Karthik and Thulasi Nair.
The government of India honored Mani Ratnam with Padma Shri in the year 2002.
Mani Ratnam, has been a boon to the Tamil Film Industry, his dedication and hard work has
helped him conquer the highest throne in the industry for a long time.