Why Mani Matters

One film-maker, one story, two casts, two budgets. Mani Ratnam8217;s Yuva and Ayutha Ezhuthu, which opened this week, have a simple brief...

One film-maker, one story, two casts, two budgets. Mani Ratnam8217;s Yuva and Ayutha Ezhuthu, which opened this week, have a simple brief8212;three men meet during an accident on a bridge on a Thursday morning. But from then on, things take a different turn. Of course, fans all over have been waiting to discover more.

The hype is understandable, for every time Ratnam announces a new film, there is a buzz that builds until the film hits the screen.

Whether all the noise is justified or not, you can8217;t ignore a Ratnam film. For his films are not just entertaining, they also deal with serious issues: Class war, religious conflict, politics. And he8217;s a great storyteller8212;belonging to that rare breed of film-makers whose movies have a beginning, middle and an end.

Unlike most Indian directors, Ratnam begins shooting only after the script is complete. 8216;8216;He gives a mnemonic scene and I get started,8217;8217; says dialogue writer Sujatha, who also worked on Ayutha Ezhuthu. 8216;8216;I e-mail it to him, he rewrites it and sends it back. There8217;s a lot of rewriting, that is the essence of Mani Ratnam. But there8217;s no question of long discussions in hotel rooms and no improvisation during shooting.8217;8217;

An MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai, Ratnam wrote and directed his first feature film, Pallavi Anupallavi a Kannada film in 1983. A Malayalam film and a few lesser-known Tamil films came next before Mouna Ragam happened, kick-starting his tryst with urban romances. Then came the phenomenal success of Nayagan and others like Agni Nakshatram.

Today, Ratnam is an icon, even if he has not made any blockbusters, except for Roja. He is also yet to receive a national award as director, an oversight that recently sparked a controversy. 8216;8216;But Mani Ratnam is special, the best I8217;ve worked with,8217;8217; says Santosh Sivan, who has worked with him as cinematographer. 8216;8216;He8217;s intense, hard-working, and passionate about his work. I8217;ve discovered the most unusual places with him on location hunts and can mostly remember trudging out in the early morning with torches,8217;8217; he says, laughing.

The film-maker is known for his teamwork and the freedom he gives his technicians. 8216;8216;Since he8217;s very intense, he brings out the best in me,8217;8217; says Sreekar Prasad, who has edited Ratnam films like Alaipayuthe and Kannathil Muthamittal and now, Yuva. 8216;8216;He8217;s very clear about what he wants and is not sentimental about certain shots. He gives me my freedom.8217;8217;

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8216;8216;He is a school, an institution I go back to every time,8217;8217; says director Shaad Ali, who remade Alaipayuthe as Saathiya in Hindi.

His films have only grown more refined over the years. 8216;8216;From Mouna Ragam to Alaipayuthe, Mani Ratnam as a person has remained the same,8217;8217; says PC Sreeram, who worked on Dalapathy. 8216;8216;But through Yuva, he8217;s going towards a more serious kind of cinema. I feel his technique is taking a back seat and he8217;s now concentrating more on content.8217;8217;


					I Make Films to Please Myself

							Mani Ratnam on confidence and casting 8226; Has the reverence that the stars seem to treat you with ever come in your way? I don8217;t think it8217;s the question of reverence. It8217;s more like distance. I maintain my distance. It8217;s a different thing we want to work with one another. But when it comes to work, it8217;s essential to maintain a certain distance. 8226; You seem to pick your actors and actresses right. They almost always fit the part. How do you do it? There8217;s no particular way to do it. I am aware that casting is very crucial. It is important that actors fit the role8212;it helps to shape the characters better. There8217;s no rule as such, I just trust myself. 8226; Which is more difficult8212;working with absolute newcomers or stars? New or experienced, it doesn8217;t matter. It8217;s just that certain roles demand a new face. 8226; *Some people seem to have gauged the market well. Farah Khan, for instance. Main Hoon Na* has all the elements of a box-office success. Have you ever approached films like that?** It is sad if you think that. I don8217;t think film-making is about XYZ. You do a film because you believe in it. For Farah Khan, Main Hoon Na must have been something that she wanted to share with people. 8226; *Does it hurt when people reject what you hold dear to your heart? You say Kannathil Muthamittal* is your favourite, but it flopped in theatres.** Every film is close to me. And yes, it does hurt to an extent. But that doesn8217;t mean I8217;ll analyse the films, trying to figure out what went wrong. Besides, Kannathil Muthamittal is a different genre from Ayitha Ezhuthu. And I make films not just to please you but also myself. Sometimes my confidence is proved right and sometimes it is not. *Jemima Raman*

Film-maker and critic Khalid Mohamed is another admirer, having actually attempted the 8216;8216;Mani Ratnam feel8217;8217; in his debut film, Fiza. 8216;8216;I saw Roja and I was hooked,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;I went back to watch his earlier Tamil films and I was really excited. In fact, even the Mehmoob Mere song with Sushmita Sen had a bit of Hamma Hamma Bombay8217;8217;.

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The adulation does not mean Ratnam has been spared by critics. Some call him pure hype, a creation of the media. His characters speak strange, contrived dialogues, say others. Writer Sujatha dismisses them as superfluous comments. Though Mohamed admits he was disappointed with Dil Se8212;8216;8216;Fantastic music and great photography, but the screenplay failed and the climax was messed up. For that matter, even Bombay was too balanced. It was not my favourite at all. It was just great that someone had the guts to make it.8217;8217;

Another person who is full of admiration is Rajiv Menon, cinematographer for Bombay. 8216;8216;One is waiting for Mani8217;s film because he changes and reinvents his film-making with each of his releases. His is the only movie I want to go to the theatre and see.8217;8217;

Which brings us back to Yuva, Ratnam8217;s most ambitious project till date at Rs 20 crore and said to be loosely structured on Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu8217;s Mexican film Amores Perros Love8217;s a Bitch.

Though connected narratively and symbolically, the films are distinct, Amores Perros being a mix of violent gangster film and frustrated romance. Insiders say Ratnam8217;s is very different8212;much simpler, focusing on student politics, love, regrets and life8217;s accidents.

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While most of the stars in the Tamil version are saleable8212;Suriya, Madhavan, Meera Jasmine and Trisha8212;in Hindi, actors like Abhishek, Kareena Kapoor, and Esha Deol are hoping Yuva will revive their sagging careers. In fact, Kareena, who confesses that her role is very short, says she8217;ll do anything to get 8216;8216;Mani Sir8217;s8217;8217; name on her CV.

Playing a hired assasin, Abhishek is said to have turned in an excellent performance, Banarasi accent et al. All the three characters are supposed to be unsentimental, with the girls madly in love with them. The men meet during the horrific accident at the beginning of the film. Does one of them die? That8217;s a well-kept secret.