Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/every-mani-ratnam-film-ranked-baradwaj-rangan/
To call Mani Ratnam a mainstream filmmaker is a bit redundant, because every (primarily) Tamil filmmaker is a mainstream filmmaker: Tamil cinema does not have an “art film” tradition, the way Malayalam or Bengali cinema has. But even within the mainstream, there are two ways to make a movie. One is to see what works with large numbers of moviegoers (a star, a type of story, a genre) and give them what they want. The gaze is predominantly outward. The second way is to find something that you find interesting, and then figure out how to tell that story in a way that might work with the audience. Here, the gaze is inward. “What I want to say” comes before “How to say it in a way that you might like.”
The general consensus appears to be that, in the early years, Mani Ratnam was amazingly proficient at striking this balance. In his latter-day films, not so much. I think this is due to a couple of reasons. First, his earlier stories were simpler, the characters were more relatable, and the emotional connect was as instant as lightning. This is not the case in, say, Kadal or Kaatru Veliyidai, to take two of the filmmaker’s most reviled recent films – the former is about God and Satan battling over a boy’s soul, the latter is about a severely messed-up relationship. The people in these films are not the people next door. But the more important reason for this consensus – again, IMO – is that, post Iruvar, Mani Ratnam is a very different filmmaker. His storytelling has changed. Earlier, he relied on words and images to convey something. Now, he prefers images to words.
Take the scene in Kaatru Veliyidai where Leela tells Varun she is pregnant. Only, she doesn’t “tell” him. She stands in front of a mirror (one of this filmmaker’s favourite staging props) and asks if he senses any change in her. From behind, Varun, ever the cad (when they entered the room, he steered her first towards the bed), asks if he can touch her and sense the change. His hand traces her face, her neck – and then it slips below the frame, which continues to hold their faces. His hand goes over her breasts (she gasps), and then, when he reaches her stomach, she holds his hand there. She turns to him (away from the mirror) and says she’s pregnant. He draws her into an embrace, so now it’s just his face that’s seen in the mirror. He begins to smile, and then he locks eyes with his eyes in the mirror. He sees his face, the self that he loathes. With Leela smiling in front of him, everything was fine. Now, it’s just him, and the smile disappears. He cannot go through with this…
Not a word is said. The silence makes you think what he may be thinking. I wish the scene had lingered more on Varun’s reaction upon catching sight of his face – but then, this has been a characteristic of Mani Ratnam’s recent films. I suspect (running-time reasons, maybe?) they are edited to the bone, when a little fat wouldn’t be out of place. (You want to hold on to some moments for a little longer.) Still, it’s there – visuals instead of words, cinematic language instead of the language of books. And this doesn’t reach across to a large number. (It’s true all over the world. It’s especially true in India, where we prefer a “warmer” way of storytelling, something that makes us feel at once, as opposed to something abstracted that we have to “read” and process a little to arrive at the feeling.)
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2018 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Srinivas R
September 20, 2018
From shying away to ranking films for year end round up to ranking all of Maniratnam’s movies, this is some leap.
About the ranking, I would swap places between Ayutha Ezhuthu and Agni. Also, you are right about 5 people liking Kadal, or may be you are overestimating 🙂
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Krishikari
September 20, 2018
Have to completely agree with you about Thannathil Muthamittal at #2. Loved the relationship scenes in it, but was completely drawn in by the lush green forest bathing opening sequence enough to not care that ultimately it didn’t work. Still not sure why.
I saw this a long time ago at the Toronto Int. Film Festival and Mani Rathnam was there on stage answering audience questions. Laughed out loud at his unmasked irritation with one lady’s weird question about the whether the whole family sleeping in bed together was quite appropriate for Indian audiences!
I also liked Guru a lot and the Hindi version of Ravanna. I may be one of the 5 people who think Abhishek Bachchan is a very good actor.
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brangan
September 20, 2018
Krishikari: Laughed out loud at his unmasked irritation with one lady’s weird question about the whether the whole family sleeping in bed together was quite appropriate for Indian audiences!
Oh, that is HILARIOUS!!!!
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shaviswa
September 20, 2018
Kadal at 8? Are you trolling us?
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Rocky
September 20, 2018
I have seen Iruvar and Nayakan with subtitles and -Dil se.., Guru, Yuva, Roja, Bombay and Raavan in hindi.
I have seen Saathiya as well which I believe was a hindi remake of one of his movie by Shaad Ali?
I hope Netflix or Prime gets the rights to stream the other movies,
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rsylviana
September 20, 2018
Laughed out loud at his unmasked irritation with one lady’s weird question about the whether the whole family sleeping in bed together was quite appropriate for Indian audiences!
Buhahahaha 😀 Man, they are everywhere !!!
@BR – Brilliant write-up, as per usual. Hated seeing Kaatru Veliyidai above Mouna Raagam, Thalapathi and others though.
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ini
September 20, 2018
As excited I am to see this from you, it also feels like an anti-climax. I liked the mystery element you maintained about your favorites. I would have liked to have this list released after, you know, you have died, only for some future critics to unearth 😀 But oh my, I totally agree with every bit of your ranking. I am nodding my head very violently here.
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Anu Warrier
September 20, 2018
Kannathil Muthamittal is one of my favourite Mani Rathnam films after a few ‘What the heck was he thinking?’ experiences. So is Dil Se, which I find, as you put it, ‘interesting’. Mouna Ragam never worked for me, sadly. OKK was o-kay, but I did enjoy Alaipayuthey. I also liked both Aayutha Ezhuthu and Yuva, both versions of Raavanan.
@Krishikari – thanks for the laugh. 🙂 And count me among the other four people who think AB junior is a good actor.
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Anu Warrier
September 20, 2018
BR, Iruvar was Aishwarya’s first film ever, so forgive her for not matching up to Mohanlal and Prakash Raj. 🙂
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brangan
September 20, 2018
ini: I would have liked to have this list released after, you know, you have died…
Gee, thanks ini. You sure know how to make someone think happy thoughts 😛
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Akhilan
September 20, 2018
Kannathil Muthamittal, Aayutha Ezuthu, Dil Se, Alaipayuthey, and Thalapathi would be my Top 5, but you’re the bonafide Mani Ratnam expert BR. Kannathil Muthamittal will always be special to me, as I watched it in the cinema whilst living in Colombo… Though, I was only around 9 then, it somehow deeply resonated with me and I remember having tears in my eyes in the scene when Amudha meets her biological mother…
Not to mention, it was also probably the first movie I watched where one of the characters shared my name (I think it was one of Amudha’s brothers…) so felt pretty chuffed as back then, I always had issues with it… 🙂
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Madan
September 20, 2018
I did like AB Jr in Guru. And also Bunty Aur Babli and Pa. Just that sometimes nepotism sucks (also happened to Amit Kumar).
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Kg
September 20, 2018
As Shiva (becoming Nataraja) dances, he, through his dance, creates a movement and destroys it immediately as he moves on to the next dance movement. Nataraja’s dance posture depict this in his posture, through is two hands. Mani Ratnam, through his movies, does the same. But some of his movements in his dance (read movies) are so fascinating that the audience are mesmerised and hold on to them, long after Mani Ratnam left that movement and moved on to create the next movement (movie). Even if the next movement is great, the audience is not seeing it or willing to see it. Shiva dances with his eyes open, and still doesn’t care for the world. His Tandav is internal. Mani Ratnam dances (through his moves) but keeps one eye open. May be, off late, he is shifting between keeping one of the two eyes open, and in the process loosing sight. May be he is only dancing for himself. May be its time for him to open his third eye. Inspite of being a non-beliver, he has made many films (Thalapathi, Kannathil, Roja, Raavanan etc) based on mythology. Time for him to have a take of Shiva?
Baradwaj Rangan your writing invokes all the 5 senses while reading them.
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shaviswa
September 20, 2018
My list would be the following:
Mouna Ragam
Nayagan
Alai Payuthae
Agni Natchathiram
Thalapathi
Thiruda Thiruda
Anjali
Idhayathai Thirudathae aka Geetanjali
Iruvar
And the rest.
I am not fond of most of the remaining films and doesn’t really make sense to rank them. Except for Katru Veliyidai, I have seen all the other films. Despite not being a great fan of Mani Ratnam, that he has made me watch almost every movie of his does mean that he has something in him 🙂
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varshaganesh
September 20, 2018
Wonderful write-up! It makes me want to watch all these movies again in the order you`ve mentioned!
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Heisenberg
September 20, 2018
One thing that has always baffled me is why many people bash at Ayudha Ezhuthu. I am from south tamil nadu, and my first ever experience in Sathyam Cinemas was Ayudha Ezhuthu. I vividly remember the whole movie watching experience, from the way the titles fly across the screen to the ending (which at that age I felt it as abrupt).
If my memory serves right, it was the first time short (10-20 sec) promos were used for a tamil movie. The songs were chartbusters, visuals were top notch and the narrative was nothing seen in Tamil cinema before. Yet when the movie released, I remember reading some reviews like can’t believe the director who made Roja has come to this.
Of course the movie has its flaws, but almost 15 years later, the movie still remains fresh and energetic. IMO the fling between SIdharth and Trisha looks relevant even today and it worked better than the fling in Ok Kanmani.
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kaizokukeshav
September 20, 2018
Since Thiruda Thiruda was not so fun ride, how do you compare it with Kshana Kshanam (from RGV who also assisted in Thiruda Thiruda). Do you think RGV was better in making road movies than Mani Ratham ? (Another one is Anaganaga oka roju which was a runaway hit in Telugu)
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Nathan
September 20, 2018
This is too dense for one article, for one reading or one day.
Ippadi timeless testa T20 maadhiri aadittu, eppadi Saar commentary kuduka mudiyum!
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Subha Bhaskaran
September 20, 2018
Roja is the film that changed Mani Ratnam as a storyteller. For the worse.
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Meera Corera
September 20, 2018
Iruvar and Ayutha Ezhuthu are my favourite amongst Mani Ratnam’s spectacular work. He is more of a “you can insult him, applaud him but can never ignore him” type.
Actually very early on, I remember everybody having this peeve of him looking at a national audience as opposed to a regional more native audience. But if his storytelling wants a bigger backdrop and his brushstrokes are broader then why not? The demography has never affected his organic story telling. Even when you questioned him in Kaatru Veliyidai about his filming his first foreign romantic song he brushed it off casually. These are things that are not significant. How many filmmakers do we have that don’t succumb to the pressures of the market but remain completely loyal to the script? For this and this alone he will remain the greatest story tellers of this generation…
His movies have had strong characters(male and female) – even Prabhu’s mom in Agni Natchathiram is an interesting character… If there is a director who can make a upper class housewife this intriguing… man!!! let him keep crafting magic!!!
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Sahir.
September 20, 2018
As someone who has not seen any of Mani Ratnam’s pre-Dil Se films (but seen nearly all post-Dil Se films), I’m perhaps not a very reliable person to discuss this list with – and I certainly will make no contribution to a discussion on his ‘Madras Movies’ phase.
But I will say that making a list like this is both personal and a little troublesome: how do you choose which film trumps which? Is it based on which film you would turn to most readily (in which case, for me, O Kadhal Kanmani over Kannathil Muthamittal) or which film tells a more gripping/moving story (in which case, the other way around)? Is it based on which film is easier to watch/less flawed (in which case, Guru before Kaatru Veliyidai) or which film is more fascinating to dissect (in which case, the other way around)? This discussion itself is interesting.
As for the OK Kanmani vs Alaipaayuthey debate, I stand with you, BR. OKK is the superior film, not just in terms of performances (Nithya Menen over Shakti, come on!), but also in terms of screenplay. Both films feature the calming, solid presence of an older, stable couple, which serves to reinforce the younger couple’s desire to stay together. But in Alaipaayuthey, this couple (Arvind Swamy and Khushboo, I think) are rather ungracefully shoehorned into the script, coming off more as a desperate narrative device than an organic part of the story. But in OKK, Prakash Raj and Leela Samson are around right from the beginning, and their presence in the younger couple’s life is far more visible and, therefore, their influence is more convincing. Thoughts?
Anu Warrier, I haven’t seen Iruvar, but Rai hasn’t become much better since!
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krishna prasad
September 20, 2018
I 2 had the same feeling about alaipayuthey. ( Shalini suspects Madhavan of having an affair because she sees him, from a distance, with another woman?). Found it pretty weird, sticking out like a sore thumb. Also where she says she cannot leave her parents and naayi kutti. Correct me if am wrong, didn’t find any dog in their house in the movie. Dil se had the best feel, that slightly out of reach, passionate stuff. Get the same feel while I watch and re watch vtv. Not many may agree but Dil se for me in the top 3. Think nayagan was just about perfect, difficult to better it, kinda film. Found kaatru veliyidai almost unbearable including karthis performance,pushing me to the point where I almost promised no more Mani ratnam movies. Still a big thanks to the film maker, just for the fact it’s worth having a conversation about the movies he made. PS- Alaipayuthey then was the movie every school college going person watched on loop. (5 times the first week at the fantastic naga theatre which is hotel lemon tree now)
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therag
September 21, 2018
@Sahir I don’t know about the “which film would you turn to more readily” bit. Rom-coms, comedies and basically films classified as light are by definition easier to rewatch. I think rewatchability is heavily correlated with genre and is not a reliable indicator of quality.
Personally, I would swap Thalapathi and Raavanan (only the Tamil version). Seen as a masala movie or a commercial movie made with artistic sensibilities, Thalapathi underwhelms either way. Raavanan really packs a punch, and I think MR did a really good job with the writing for once. The dialogues didn’t do much for me but they weren’t important. The songs and the action setpieces were staged spectacularly. I think the difference is that Raavanan played to MR’s strengths. In Thalapathi you can feel the director straining to get unleashed but constrained to de rigueur masala. In Raavanan he got exactly what he wanted, unfortunately the audience rejected it.
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Anu Warrier
September 21, 2018
Anu Warrier, I haven’t seen Iruvar, but Rai hasn’t become much better since!
🙂 I think she’s ‘okay’ with a competent director. Then she delivers what is demanded of her. She’s no thespian, but give me Ash any day over the likes of Katrina.
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Madan
September 21, 2018
Ash was quite effective in Guru. She’s bit like Deepika really. Give her a role that demands poise and restraint and she excels because it comes easily to her and her looks don’t hurt. It’s when she REALLY acts, like doing things out of character, that she gets into trouble. The villainous turn in Pink Panther was disastrous, for instance. Again a bit like DP, she probably feels uncomfortable if asked to exude power or darkness.
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Dracarys
September 21, 2018
Iruvar has Aishwarya’s best performance for a debut actress. Her dual role was visibly different in both her acting and characterization.
Agni in the top ten is really surprising. Surely Roja has aged well in all aspects compared to agni…
By any chance did you rate Roja based on its dubbed Hindi version??? Lol!!! 😄
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Reuben
September 21, 2018
I have never disliked any of Maniratnam’s movies (post Mounaragam).
To me there are only two kinds of Mani Ratnam movies: Good and Excellent.
I will watch his so called bad movies any day over other block buster movies of some of the Directors who blatantly ape him but fall woefully short in style, technique or substance.
யானை படுத்தாலும் குதிரை மட்டம்
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Tambi Dude
September 21, 2018
Anu: Life’s first rule. In any comparison someone is better. I always considered Hema Malini as a poor actress. However even she delivered it in Hey Ram (the tam version). May be AR will get her turn when she turns 60+.
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Tambi Dude
September 21, 2018
“Roja is the film that changed Mani Ratnam as a storyteller. For the worse.”
Yeah. Agni N and Geetanjili had a very tight screenplay. Where did that MR go !!!
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Tambi Dude
September 21, 2018
May be I am old fashioned. I am not enamored by technical brilliance of a movie or the way scenes are shot, specially to make up the deficiency of story telling. None of the movies I love watching multiple times were a visual treat (Satya, Company, Goodfellas, Hey Ram to name a few), but were superior to all of MR films in story telling, except may be Mouna Ragam. May be this is the reason why I have drifted towards TV shows.
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HeyRam
September 21, 2018
I went WTF many times indeed. Agree with Iruvar at 1. And in general at the top few. But either you are suffering from a recency bias or I am suffering from nostalgia bias. But I think some of his earlier works should feature much higher including Mouna Ragam, Alaipayuthey and thalapathi, especially if judged by the standards of that time. His recent works feel a little overwrought.
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The Ghost Who Walks
September 21, 2018
@Kaizokukeshav
Since Thiruda Thiruda was not so fun ride, how do you compare it with Kshana Kshanam (from RGV who also assisted in Thiruda Thiruda).
I think its difficult to compare who is a better road films, since Maniratnam basically made only one and RGV made a couple of films that have aged really badly. But, I certainly believe Kshanakshanam is a much better film than Thiruda Thiruda. While both films have their drawbacks, its the casting and low-key humour that, for me, makes RGV’s film a repeat worthy movie.
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(Original) venkatesh
September 21, 2018
BR : “(I could certainly live without the strobe effects at the end.)” –
how dare you sir ?
I would swap Nayagan and Kannathil Muthamittal , the rest looks ok for me.
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Madan
September 22, 2018
@Tambi Dude: Out of your list, at least Satya, Goodfellas and Hey Ram are visually great films. Visually great =/= Conventionally beautiful. It can be beautiful but need not be, what one looks for is how well the look of the film suits its mileu, mood etc. A film that has beautiful colours but isn’t necessarily very striking visually is Jeans imo. The best example of why a procession of picture postcards does not a great film make.
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Anu Warrier
September 22, 2018
@TambiDude… LOL. 🙂
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therag
September 22, 2018
@Tambi Dude Goodfellas and Hey Ram not visually beautiful? Neengalum Zack Snyder fan aa?
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vogon
September 22, 2018
“Madan: A film that has beautiful colours but isn’t necessarily very striking visually is Jeans imo. The best example of why a procession of picture postcards does not a great film make.”
even if we become the greatest in the world, we’ll always remain the nation that sent Jeans to the Oscars
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R Gowtham
September 22, 2018
I’d like to share my Top 3.
Iruvar
The scene I love the most starts with Mohanlal fighting on screen, but there are no”dishoom” sounds. We then see Gautami lifting her hand to check the time. The focus has moved to her hand now revealing Mohanlal seated beside her. Mohanlal enquires Delhi Ganesh out of the frame about the schedule of the meeting and he comes in, utters his dialog and disappears. Mohanlal turns to the screen, has an exchange with Gautami and the camera centers on him now. Aishwarya moves into the frame from the right and they are the only people in the frame now, her face lit by the light from the screen. The whole scene is so beautifully shot and choreographed. Such thrift for screen space.
The out-of-focus fighting scene playing silently in the foreground takes the cake though. Establishes the silent internal battle better than anything else.
ARR had a beautifully restrained role in this film. It’s one of his best scores, though none of the songs say “this is a song from an ARR-Mani Ratnam movie”.
Ayutha Ezhuthu
Michael always removes his watch when he’s about to fight. When you see him taking it out of his pocket, you understand he’s back from a fight. Such a small detail, but I only realised it the 20th time I saw the movie.
The movie is so much fun. The scene where we first see Bharathiraja is fantastic. I love even the badly written dialogs.
“Intha kaadhal onnum thappa vanthrathu”
Kannathil Muthamittal
I was horrified when I saw a frame with the words: “To the heroes of the kargil War” right at the beginning of Kaatru Veliyidai. I was even more horrified by the voice-over used as a narrative device.
Kannathil Muthamittal has the voice-over of Keerthana in the beginning (after the wonderful Vellai Pookal stretch). But there, it worked because of its quirkiness and because the things happening in her life were fun (or narrated in a fun way).
The film made me think about all the lives and the struggle without Mani Ratnam explicitly mentioning “Dedicated to the people of Eelam”.
The best scene in the film for me is when Amudha walks out of the house after her brother tells her he hates her on the phone, enters what looks like a jungle (the music is haunting) and encounters child terrorists.
Over the course of the film, Amudha has seen so many horrors: A suicide bomber, mass evacuations, bombs being dropped randomly from the sky, child terrorists and a nation ravaged by war. Isn’t that so much better than mere words on screen?
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Voldemort
September 22, 2018
Not sure where to post this, but, Village Rockstars is India’s submission for the Oscar.
https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-others/village-rockstars-india-official-entry-to-oscars-2019-5369369/
That Padmavat and Padman(!) were submitted as nominations is quite appalling, IMO.
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Madan
September 22, 2018
“even if we become the greatest in the world, we’ll always remain the nation that sent Jeans to the Oscars” – Oh dear, did we do THAT??? Kodumai kodumai!!!
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Tambi Dude
September 22, 2018
I did not find anything spectacular in Goodfellas like Godfather. To that extent it was not visually that great. It wasn’t bad either.
On the other hand, HR had some cringe worthy moments in CGI, otherwise it was shot very well.
In any case I was taking a dig at MR who can only visually present the scenes of someone telling she is pregnant :-), but can not tell a story well. Maha bore.
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brangan
September 22, 2018
Tambidude: I get that Mani Ratnam does not work for you.
But to claim that Michael Ballhaus’s cinematography in GoodFellas is anything less than spectacular… Wow. That film is half-narrated through the camera.
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Tambi Dude
September 22, 2018
BR: You are right. I should have been clearer. You chose appropriate words “half-narrated through camera”. I remember the scenes
But where I am coming from, and where GFellas differs from Godfather is the spectacular beauty of many scenes:
Tom Hagen going to Hollywood to persuade the film maker to take Johnny.
Beautiful jazz music.
2 Discovery of horse’s head in the bed. What an eerie music.
Clemenza taking a leak in the highway while the traitor gets shot. A long shot.
Many scenes when Michael Corleone is in Italy after killing the corrupt cop and Sollozzo.
Hospital scenes when Mike goes to discover his dad alone and about to be killed.
Funeral of Don Colreone.
Mike becoming godfather to his nephew and at the same time all rivals killed.
Cinematography of Godfather had a bigger role in its greatness than the same in Goodfellas.
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Rocky
September 22, 2018
The image of Aditi Rao Hydree- what movie is that from ?
She worked in a MR film? would love to watch it
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therag
September 22, 2018
Off the top of my head, Goodfellas has that famous Copacabana tracking shot. The ending also IIRC had some great cinematography, when the protagonist is high on his supply and extremely paranoid.
But I also love the Snyder kind of visual beauty, like literally beautiful images/imagery. Sadly, the Rotten Tomatoes bandwagon sunk Man of Steel with some really unfair criticism although with BvS, some of the criticism was deserved. But he is one filmmaker whose films I look forward to.
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brangan
September 22, 2018
Tambi Dude: Wow. We seem to have diametrically opposing views on what cinematography is, what its purpose is, what its language and emotive power are, how the classical style of Godfather is not just the cinematography but also how long the shots are held, how there are many long shots and “beautiful” so-mo shots in GoodFellas too ..
I think what you may be saying is that the lighting of GoodFellas is more “naturalistic” than than of Godfather. Which is true.
Otherwise, I am just stunned reading that comment. The cinematography of GoodFellas has just as equal a role in its greatness as the cinematography in Godfather.
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Vidya Ramesh
September 22, 2018
When I watched thiruda thiruda I don’t remember anything other than loving it! It deserves better Mr BR. Theerpa maathi sollunga 🙂 i agree the cast was leaden but I won’t hold it against my feeling of joy when I saw it!why is no one is standing up for this movie? Smashing music makes a lot of difference. I had the small lyric book that came with the audio tape and knew all the lines to all the songs..raasathi especially..I still remember most of the lines. It’s ARR s best album in my opinion.
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Tambi Dude
September 22, 2018
Rangan: I think I agree with you for the most part, though I insist that the cinematography of Goodfellas does not stick in my mind as much as that of Godfather.
However my basic point is that I stopped liking a movie just for its cinematography.
Remember Saagar. I saw it 3 times back in 1985. Ashamed to admit it today. Ramesh Sippy took us for a ride with a movie which was all gloss. I felt the same watching Geetanjili.
Its hard for me to define what is a good cinematography, but I can give few examples:
Arjun: I think the fight scenes and the Bombay noir was well shot and captured.
Izzajat: Beautifully shot.
Also I am not much impressed by Balu Mahendran’s movies like Moodupani or Moondram Pirai. The cinematography was bordering on artificiality (as I see it today, at that time it was a WOW moment for me).
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hari
September 22, 2018
Rocky that movie still is from the upcoming Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, the other movie Aditi worked with Mani saar is Kaatru Veliyidai
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Siva
September 22, 2018
@brangan Please please pleaaaasseee make more lists. I’m a listicle lover and almost everything on Youtube/Media is now ranked. It’s great to see lists from you, BR. Make a TOP 10/Top 5 feature weekly or bi weekly.
Keep making lists till you reach Top 5 Siruthai Shiva movies or something like that xD
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(Original) venkatesh
September 23, 2018
@Tambi Dude : Man, you are so wrong. You even woke me up – i had stopped getting into debates over here, but really Satya, Goodfellas does not have good cinematography ?? Really ?
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Vandana
September 23, 2018
how can kadal, katru veliyidai, agni natchathiram be in the top 10 of MR’s movies. I would rate these 3 as one of the worst, overrated, boooring movies.
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Enigma
September 23, 2018
Brilliant write-up, enjoyed every bit of it. Agree with the list, would interchange 1 and 2. In thought MR went all downhill after Kannarhil,which is his best. Do you know that apart from these films, Mani Ratnam has also written the screenplay for two other films (not produced by him): a Ram Gopal Varma Telugu film and a Tamil film called Taj Mahal.
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Madan
September 23, 2018
” I insist that the cinematography of Goodfellas does not stick in my mind as much as that of Godfather.” – This may simply be because as BR said the lighting resembles ‘real life’ more in Goodfellas compared to Godfather which LOOKS more like a film in the classical sense, all decked up and pretty. Which I find a little incongruous with the mafia settings and welcomed the realism of Goodfellas/Satya. That apart, though, the vintage Scorcese films have a very distinctive tone colour. Watch Goodfellas, Casino and Color of Money and they all have this. So maybe your impressions deceive you and cinematography was much more important to those films than you may have felt.
“Also I am not much impressed by Balu Mahendran’s movies like Moodupani or Moondram Pirai. The cinematography was bordering on artificiality” – On the other hand, Moondram Pirai had very natural lighting, as opposed to the ‘nadagam stage’ lighting of the 60s and the 70s. With Moodupani, I felt there was something off about the filters but maybe that was just the print and I should watch a good print to judge for sure.
“In any case I was taking a dig at MR who can only visually present the scenes of someone telling she is pregnant :-), but can not tell a story well. ” – Your point is kinda misaddressed here. Mani works with great cinematographers like PC and Santosh Sivan and is a great DIRECTOR. It is his refusal to delegate script writing to somebody else that hurts his films a lot of times. So it is Mani the scriptwriter who is overrated, not Mani the director. You might say it is one and the same thing but I think this distinction says a lot about why our films struggle when notched up to very competent and taut Hollywood products that aren’t necessarily particularly brilliant. They get their separation of duties right while our films get dragged down by directorial ego. It’s why Yash Chopra has Deewar and Shekar Kapur has Mr India but Mani doesn’t because they just let Salim Javed do their job.
@ Vidya Ramesh: Do agree that Thiruda Thiruda is ARR’s best. His only musically ambitious album imo. The one album where he wasn’t afraid to be ostentatious and complex. Felt like later he succumbed to lazy media cliches about ‘decluttering’ and other nonsense. Or maybe, as he said, he was just not afforded the same freedom by directors later on. He said Mani gave him full rein to push the envelope.
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Rad Mahalikudi
September 23, 2018
@BR: Realising the folly of rating ‘Top N List’? You resisted the temptation so long. Why did you give in? You are the guy who hates giving stars in movie reviews!!
Being a lover of movies, it is better to list of movies you liked than ordering them like class rank!! Say Top 100 movies, not in any particular order (better to put them in alphabetical order!!). Not just Movies, Books, Music, even when you get in to discussions like how was a country doing or how life was say 50 years back or 100 years back, we will never get an agreement. That is the reason movies like “Rashomon” works great!! There, I did it…I wanted to bring in “Rashomon” in to the discussion just because it is in my favourite movie list!!
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MANK
September 23, 2018
Vidya Ramesh, Tiruda tiruda is my most favorite MR film of all time.Honestly it is. i dont mean that i consider it his best film. i have seen it atleast 25 times.i would give anything to see another one like that from him
Some day i would write a piece on this film about what appeals to me the most about it.
I dont give a damn whether Brangan ranks it 20 or 200 , Honestly i dont give a damn about these lists. i dont know whatever posessed Brangan to embark upon this
His strength or his hallmark is analysis , not judgement. He himself has said it many times before, berated many a reader for asking for it. That’s why i am an admirer of his writings. if his idea was to start a conversation, there are other ways of doing it.
Kadal and KV has some great things in them, you can analyse and agree with that. but when you assign numbers to them, compare them with other films and put them above (say) thalapathi, then it becomes ridiculous.
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hattorihanzo4784
September 23, 2018
I kept re-checking if the list is supposed to b from best to worst.
Guru is probably the Koh-i-Noor of ratnam’s career. It is his quintessential movie. If a foreigner ever asks me to provide a Mani Ratnam movie which captures his entire essence, I would give them the guru Blu-ray.
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MANK
September 23, 2018
I think Tambi dude is mistaking the mis en scene, mean the staging etc for cinematography. Godfather moves at a glacially pace, with little camera movements that holds the attention of the viewers for much longer time. Goodfellas is kinetic and moves at a breakneck speed. All Scorsese films has great cinematography, there is nobody in movie history who has used the camera and its various possibilities to tell a story as Scorsese has.
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Rocky
September 23, 2018
Thank you Hari Bhai,,,Aditi is my new favorite after Padmavat.
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Vivek narain
September 23, 2018
When a man has 2 stellar adjectives for his name,he has to deliver come what may. It’s like the passenger who purchased the luxury steam ship and ordered the captain to burn the furniture to gain traction. It’s all in the name,effect precedes cause,and the mani and ratna glitter, destiny has to be fulfilled, this is literal example of retrocausality.
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sanjana
September 23, 2018
That is the reason people give good names to their kids. Let effect precede the cause! Let the result be predetermined. A fond hope.
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arampesu
September 24, 2018
You know a lot about Cinema I agree whole heartedly. But you dont know much about terrorism in reality. Roja captures it perfectly. There isnt a whole lot of character building ala French Mesrine kind of movies to a terrorist or a terrorist group like LeT etc. it has been simple brainwashing by radical islam (or any other religion) then in Kashmir of late eighties and is so today in ISIS and Yazidi genocide and movie captures it beautifully
And Madhubala acts so naturally with Arvindswamy coming off age from Selvaraghavan second hero kind in thalapathy to superb male presence even in a female protagonist movie in Roja
I wish Mani thinks in those simple terms now. He was there in Kaatru Veliyidai (except for poor staging of escape from prison sequence in pakistan for which one can switch to Arvind swamy sequence in Roja)
Guru
Kaatru Veliyidai
Roja
are some of myfavorites. i dont like Kannathil because of simplistic staging in the climax. it felt like afghanistan studio directed shots from Vishwaroopam. Childish. compare that to some sequeences in Munich for instance.
Sri Lanka is beuatifully captured in opening shots with an awesome Nandita das.
Also Maddy didnt fit into a Tamil writer ala Sujatha kind of writer. Simran was rocking in that movie.
wrt Agni first time i saw an understated villain in a tamil movie and it took a Pattiyal sekar villain performance in Rajathanthiram to equate that. Amala is the most beautiful loosu ponnu. All the others just try aping that till now.
I loved Kadal but for Thulasi performance and final long religious sequence.
Ravanan sucks in all aspects except cinematography.
Best film till date is KaatruVeliyidai for me except for prison sequence
thanks for writing this article. waiting for CCV
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Enigma
September 24, 2018
Mani Ratnam has the reputation of being tight-fisted. Probably the reason why he did not engage screen writers.
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GODZ
September 24, 2018
I surprised to see a “List” in BR’s blog. Personally, I feel one cannot rank a director of Maniratnam caliber as Each of his works are like creative babies at different points of time and it all depends on kind of audience taste, market etc. A work like Agni natachitiram that tells a story of a man and sons of two of his wives would have been widely dismissed by audiences of today and Maniratnam himself might not tell a story like that now. I like Mani Sir’s work because the characters, the story, the setting stays with you after a very long time i mean for years…
Even now I view and feel Manohar or Anjali’s or Velu Nayakars Deaths not as mere cinematic deaths but as if the death of someone I know in real and that’s Mani Sirs Success. So From the perspective of storytelling and characters that stayed and will stay with me forever(in Alphabetical Order), Its Alaipayuthey, Anjali, Guru, MounaRagam, and Nayagan. To be honest and IMO none of Mani Sirs Latest movies except KV did not create much impact in me(I did not watch KV so cannot comment on that)
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hari
September 24, 2018
Vidya Ramesh, MANK yes thiruda thiruda rocked, I can watch it N number of times.
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Vidya Ramesh
September 24, 2018
Yay MANK and Hari 🙂 my taste is in good company. I would read your take on thiruda thiruda if you ever write it MANK. This write up for all its ranking naansense made me very happy. I sang raasathi to the better half who grew up in Bombay and doesn’t know as much tamil. I remembered all the lines to that wonderful song it shocked the hell out of him 🙂 thanks for triggering that Mr BR.
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Arun Pradeep
September 25, 2018
Man that must’ve taken a loong time to write. I’d still rank Nayakan over Iruvar because while Iruvar is stunning, Nayakan seems more.. wholesome. Maybe that’s because of the emotional handholding you wrote about earlier. In the same sense that Iruvar seems to have been a turning point, Kaatru Veliyidai could also be an important film, because you need a lot of guts to present something like that to the people. Mani Ratnam was like, “the protagonist is a maddeningly imperfect man, yeah, but that’s what he is.”
I’d also rank Thalapathi a bit higher and Agni not so high. As for Kadal, ungala vitralaam thalaiva, aana antha matha naalu peru yaaru nu sollunga. Thedi poi vetren.
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Srinivas R
September 25, 2018
“As for Kadal, ungala vitralaam thalaiva, aana antha matha naalu peru yaaru nu sollunga. Thedi poi vetren”.: 🙂 🙂 🙂
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shaviswa
September 25, 2018
@Arun Pradeep
Have you seen Rajinikanth in Avargal?
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Rocky
September 25, 2018
Arun Vijay tells TNM about working with the large star cast, his rapport with Mani Ratnam and more.
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/my-character-thyagu-charmer-arun-vijay-tnm-chekka-chivantha-vaanam-88940
You’ve been a part of multi-starrers, like Yennai Arindhaal, in the past. CCV is also one.
Mani (Ratnam) sir gives equal space to all his characters. He’s not your usual filmmaker. And that’s why his films stand out. Someone of his stature doesn’t have to narrate the entire script to me. But he did. I was quite impressed with my character (Thyagu). Even now, I don’t understand how I bagged the film. It feels like a dream. I think I’ve done my best. When I got a call from Madras Talkies, I had a word with Gautham Menon. He was extremely happy and proud.
Tell us about your role.
Thyagu is a well-learned guy, who deals with top-notch people in Dubai. He’s a charmer, too. It’s an interesting character that has different dimensions. Mani (Ratnam) sir has kept everything realistic as far as possible in the film — the characters, dialogues, situations, and the emotional roller coaster each of the characters goes through.
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Arun Pradeep
September 25, 2018
@shaviswa
No, not really. Have seen clips, but never the film.
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Honest Raj
September 26, 2018
There is no mainstream filmmaker in India who – for over 35 years – has pushed himself and his art the way Mani Ratnam does
The line reminds me of Vairamuthu’s fiery speech (to praise Rajini’s superstardom) at the audio launch of Enthiran.
it’s refreshing to see a heroine (written by a man!) who isn’t carrying a placard or putting herself in quotation marks, like some of K Balachander’s women
Just wondering what happened to the KB fan in you. 🙂
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Honest Raj
September 26, 2018
Madan: A film that has beautiful colours but isn’t necessarily very striking visually is Jeans imo.
A Malayalam cinematographer once described the film’s camerawork as “glamour photography”. It’s been the case with every other Shankar film. I is his ultimate film in this regard.
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brangan
September 27, 2018
Honest raj: Just wondering what happened to the KB fan in you.
Oh, he is very much alive 🙂 I am second to none in my admiration for early 70s to mid 80s Balachander.
But that doeen’t mean one cannot have issues with certain things in his films, no?
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Honest Raj
September 29, 2018
But that doeen’t mean one cannot have issues with certain things in his films, no?
Alright 🙂
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Severus Snape
October 11, 2020
Count me in those 5 people who liked Kadal.
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hari prasad
March 1, 2023
Too late , but anyways here’s my top 10 Mani Ratnam movies.
Aayutha Ezhuthu
Kannathil Muthamittal
Iruvar
Nayagan
Thalapathi
Alaipayuthey
Mouna Raagam
Ponniyin Selvan 1
Raavanan
Dil Se
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