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#How Suhasini and Maniratnam got married # Sushasini and Mani Ratnam journey for marriage # MTS 103
Mani Ratnam
Name Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam
Born 2 June 1956
Born at Madras
Father S. Gopala Ratnam
Wife Suhasini (actress)
Son Nandhan (born 1992)
Nationality Indian
Occupation Director
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam betterly known as Mani Ratnam was born 2 June 1956. The screen name Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film. Despite being born into a film family, Mani Ratnam did not develop any interest in films when he was young. Upon completion of his post graduation in management, Mani Ratnam started his career as a consultant. Mani Ratnam entered the film industry through the 1983 Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi. The failure of his subsequent films would mean that Mani Ratnam was left with fewer offers. However, his fifth directorial outing, Mouna Ragam (1986), established him as a leading filmmaker in Tamil cinema. Mani Ratnam followed that with Nayakan (1987). Mani Ratnam is well known for his "Terrorism trilogy" consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), and Dil Se.. (1998). Mani Ratnam has won several film awards and nominations including six National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and three Bollywood Filmfare Awards.
Mani Ratnam was the second child of a family that was closely associated with film production. Mani Ratnam father S. Gopala Ratnam was a film distributor who worked for Venus Pictures and his uncle "Venus" Krishnamurthy was a film producer. Mani Ratnam elder brother G. Venkateswaran would go on to produce some of Mani's films. Mani Ratnam younger brother is G. Srinivasan, who like Venkateswaran would also co-produced some of his films. Mani Ratnam grew up in Madras now Chennai along with his siblings and cousins in a joint family.. Despite being a film family, the children were not allowed to watch films as the elders considered them taboo. "As a youngster, films seemed like a waste of time", Mani Ratnam claimed in a 1994 interview. However, Mani Ratnam started watching films more actively when Mani Ratnam was studying in the Besant Theosophical School. During this time, Mani Ratnam developed an admiration towards actors like Sivaji Ganesan and Nagesh; watching all their films. When he was 15 he discovered director K. Balachander and became a fan. Upon completing his schooling, he graduated with a degree in commerce from the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, affiliated to the Madras University. Later, Mani Ratnam did his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. After finishing his post-graduation in 1977, Mani Ratnam was employed in a firm in Madras as a management consultant, and continued to work there for sometime.
Mani Ratnam is married to Suhasini, an established actress in South Indian cinema. The two first met in 1988 and got married the same year. The couple have a son Nandhan (born 1992). Mani Ratnam's family resides in Alwarpet, Chennai, where Mani Ratnam runs his production company, Madras Talkies.
Mani Ratnam was not satisfied with his job as a consultant as he found it to be a mere extension of his academics. During this time his friend Ravi Shankar, son of director B. R. Panthulu, was in the process of making his first film. Mani Ratnam, Ravi Shankar and another friend, Raman son of filmmaker S. Balachander, worked on the script of the film. Mani Ratnam took a sabbatical from his job in order to ensure his participation in the making of the film. Being inexperienced, the makers were largely dependent upon the American Cinematographer magazine. The principal cast included Vishnuvardhan, Srinath, Ambarish, Lakshmi and Roja Ramani. When the filming was about to begin in Kolar, Karnataka, Mani Ratnam left his consulting job and joined the crew. The film, however, did not take off and was eventually shelved. Nevertheless, Mani Ratnam was firm in his idea of becoming a film maker. Although not impressed with many of the films made in Tamil cinema, Mani Ratnam was "amazed" at P. Bharathiraja's 16 Vayathinile (1977), K.Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal (1975), and J. Mahendran's Mullum Malarum (1978) and Uthiripookkal (1979). During this time, Mani Ratnam befriended a group of people namely P. C. Sreeram, Santhana Bharathi, and P. Vasu, who shared his interest of entering into the film industry.
Script in hand, Mani Ratnam had an idea to either get a producer for his film or to narrate the script to a "celebrated" film-maker, so that Mani Ratnam could get a chance to work along with them and get to know about the various aspects involved in film-making. Mani Ratnam chose three directors—Balachander, Bharathiraja, and Mahendran. |