Mani Ratnam’s 69th birthday comes three days before his ambitious film “Thug Life”: Here is a peek into his impressive career in films.

Mani Ratnam, whose real name is Gopalaratnam Subramaniam, is one of India’s most respected directors. He was norn on 02 June 1956 in Madurai. He has won seven National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare South Awards and the Padmashri Award from the Government of India.

He made his directorial debut in the Kannada film, Pallavi anu Pallavi and directed as his second film, the Malayalam Mohanlal-Sukumaran starrer, Unaroo.

His first Tamil film was the Murali-Revathi starrer, Pagal Nilavu which did not click at the box-office. His second film, produced by Motherland Pictures, was Idhaya Kohyil which had Mohan, Radha and Ambika in the lead role. This was a huge success which led to him launching his third directorial, Mouna Raagam, with Mohan, Revathi and Karthik in the lead roles. The film was a roaring box-office success and has since taken on cult status.

His third Tamil film, Nayagan, had Kamalhaasan in the lead role opposite newcomer Saranya. The film redefined Indian commercial cinema and was India’s official entry to the 60^th Academy Awards. This film was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 global films of all time in the year 2005. It was one of three Indian films on the list and the only Tamil film. Nayagan marked Illaiyaraja’s 400^th film as music composer.

A year later, Mani Ratnam directed Agni Natchathiram which had Prabhu, Karthik, Amala and Nirosha in the lead roles. The film was a modern take on the masala genre and was matched by trendy music by Illaiyaraja. This film went on to become Mani Ratnam’s buggest box-office success up to that point.

In 1989 he directed the Nagarjunna Telugu starrer, Geethanjali, which was dubbed into Tamil as Idhayathai Thirudaathey.

His 1990 film, Anjali, won multiple awards, including three national awards. It was also India’s official entry to the Osacrs. The film had Raghuvaran, Revathi in the lead roles, with child stars Tharun (lead actor of Enakku 20 Unakku 18), Sruthi and Shamli (younger sister of Shalini) in the lead roles. The film foregrounded the role of the children and was a huge box-office hit. The soundtrack was composed by Illaiyaraja in his 500^th film and he used children in almost all the songs to sing playback This included his own children, Yuvan, Karthik and Bhavatharini; Gangaiamaran’s children Venkat Prabhu and Premgi and Bhaskar’s children, Parthi and Hari.

At the time of its release, Mani Ratnam’s next film – Thalapathi – was South India’s most expensive film when it released for Deepavali on 05 November 1991. It brought together on screen an ensemble cast that included Rajinikanth, Mammooty, Jaishankar, Shri Vidhya, Shobana and Banupriya. The film won multiple awards and was a massive box-office success. The soundtrack remains one of the most listened to albums of South Indian music and marked the last film that Illaiyaraja scored music for Mani Ratnam.

Mani Ratnam’s next film, Roja was produced by K. Balachander and introduced Aravind Swamy as a lead actor after his debut in Thalapathi. Madhubala made her debut to the Tamil screen in the female lead. This film marked Mani Ratnam’s first collaboration with A.R.Rahman and marked Rahman’s debut as a music composer. The soundtrack was a huge hit, won several awards, including national awards and was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 10 Best soundtracks of all time. The film was a runaway success, enjoyed critical praise and opened up the lucrative North Indian market for Mani Ratnam.

Mani Ratnam’s action adventure film Thirudaa Thiruda was not a huge box-office success but received good reviews when screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. It also won a National Award for Best Special Effects. A.R. Rahman once again scored the music and the film starred Prashanth, Anand and Heera in the lead roles.

Maniratnam’s 1995 film, Bombay was a love story set against the communal riots that happened in Bombay (now called Mumbai) between December 1992 and January 1993. The film had Aravind Swamy in the male lead opposite Manisha Koirala in her Tamil debut. The film won critical accolades and was a major hit at the box-office.

Mani Ratnam’s 1997 film, Iruvar was based on the lives of M.G. Ramachandran, Jayalalitha and M. Karunanidhi but was marketed as a work of fiction. The film won numerous national and international awards and was widely praised for its content and technical achievement but was a complete box-office failure. The film marked the Tamil debut of Malayalee megastar Mohanlal and the acting debut of Aishwarya Rai.

Mani Ratnam then worked on three consecutive films with R. Madhavan in the cast. The first was Alai Paayuthey which marked Madhavan’s debut to the Tamil screen, followed by the intensely emotional Kannathil Muthamitaal set against the political unrest in Sri Lanka and starring R. Madhavan, Simran and Keerthana, daughter of R. Parthiban. The third film was the less successful multi-starrer, Aayudha Ezhuthu which had Suriya, R. Madhavan, Siddharth, Trisha and Meera Jasmine in the lead roles.

Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan was a huge success at the box-office and received rave reviews when it was screened at International Film Festivals in Venice, Busan, New York and San Franciso. The film had Vikram and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles in what was marketed as a modern take on the story of Rama, Sita and Raavanan.

The film Kadal introduced Gautham Karthik (daughter of Karthik) and Thulasi Nair (daughter of Radha) with Aravind Swamy and Arjun sharing the lead. The film received mixed reviews from critics and a subdued response from audiences. The music scored by A.R. Rahman out-performed the success of the film.

Mani Ratnam’s next film – Oh Kaadhal Kanmani, was a breezy romantic comedy with Dulquer Salman and Nithya Menen in the lead roles with A.R. Rahman once again scoring a hit soundtrack. The film enjoyed positive reviews and a good run at the box-office.

Mani Ratnam’s subsequent two films – Karthi’s Kaatru Veliyidai and the multi-starrer, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam – both did not fare well at the box-office, but he bounced back to form with the colossally expensive Ponniyin Selvan released in two parts. Although the films did receive criticism from some quarters for the factual inaccuracy and the downplaying of the role played by Raja Raja Chozhan, both films were commercially successful.

All eyes are now on Mani Ratnam for his Kamalhaasan, Trisha, STR starrer, Thug Life, set to release worldwide on 05 June 2025.

Apart from directing, Mani Ratnam has produced 10 films and this includes Aasai, Nerukku Ner and Dumm Dumm Dumm

Mani Ratnam is married to Suhasini, daughter of Charuhaasan and niece of Kamalhaasan.