'I find it difficult to revisit my work': Mani Ratnam

Interview/ Mani Ratnam, filmmaker

Tucked away on a narrow lane behind Chennai’s upscale Greenways Road, the Madras Talkies office exudes the same aesthetic and visual artistry as Mani Ratnam’s films. Journalists, TV crews and assistant directors crowd the front office, eager to catch a glimpse of the director a day before the release of Thug Life. The office, flooded with natural light, feels as vibrant as his work. Young staff, fashionably dressed and reminiscent of his movie characters, discuss their mentor, “Mani Sir”.

On his 70th birthday, Ratnam is dressed in a minimalist white shirt and blue trousers, projecting an aura of energy and craft that define his career. Having first revolutionised Tamil cinema in 1986 with the romantic drama Mouna Raagam, he has over four decades explored a range of genres—crime, comedy, mythology, thriller and more. From Nayakan (1987) to Ponniyin Selvan (2022), Ratnam’s films have always succeeded in sparking conversations—especially for their blend of compelling narrative and sociopolitical commentary. Thug Life may not have garnered critical acclaim, but it remains a work to be revisited for its complex characters and themes.

As a filmmaker, Ratnam has always been ahead of his time, creating ‘pan-Indian’ films even before the term was coined. Yet, curiously, he chose not to learn Hindi.

In an interview with THE WEEK, Ratnam speaks about his creative journey, sharing sharp insights on how he keeps up with the changing times to stay relevant as a filmmaker.

Edited excerpts:

Q.    The last film you did with Kamal Haasan before Thug Life was Nayakan, around 38 years ago. How has he changed?

A.    He was an evolved artist even then—an award winner and one of the best talents. Give him any role and he inhabits it. To me, it did not feel like a long time, even though it was, because I had been in touch with him. I see all his films. Nayakan came in the early part of my career. He trusted us with the film and gave us the freedom to do it. After all these years, that trust and freedom continue.

Q.    Would you compare Nayakan Kamal and Thug Life Kamal?

A.    The characters are very different. In Nayakan, there is a graph—from a younger one to an older one. Here, there is a jump. It is a jump to a character, and then there is a transition.

Q.    You pay a lot of attention to detail—recreating Dharavi in Chennai for Nayakan, building a brick home for Alaipayuthey…. Why is this so important?

A.    We are trying to recreate life, so any amount of detail is worth it. But, at some point, we have to draw a line. The effort is to make it as believable and real as possible—to create a world where you feel that the scene is actually happening. It should not look as if it is constructed. You don’t put in the details just because you want to put in the details. You do it to enhance the scene and to make the world believable. The world should help you in your storytelling.

Q.    When you penned the lyrics of ‘Thenpaandi Seemaiyiley’ in Nayakan, did you expect it to become such a hit?

A.    When I first narrated the outline to Raja sir (composer Ilaiyaraaja), he had the harmonium in front of him. And this is what he played. We just listened to it and finished it. It just came out of him and became the film’s lifeline.

Q.    How do you get your tunes composed by music directors?

A.    I try to get the best music directors in the country. Then it becomes very easy. An absolute genius like Ilaiyaraaja or A.R. Rahman make my job easy.

Q.    In your romance dramas—Mouna Ragam, Alaipayuthey, O Kadhal Kanmani—there are so many transcended transitions of love.

A.    It is not just love between a boy and a girl, or a man and a woman. It is [love] between human beings—father, son, mother, daughter, brother, sister. That is what binds us, makes us emotional. So it takes shape in various forms in movies. In any narrative, in any storytelling, there will be love and—to contrast that—anger, distances and distrust. One sets off against another. So it will become part of any narrative.

Q.    Actor Silambarasan recently said artists prefer working with directors who are good at keeping time. How do you maintain discipline?

A. I don’t carry a cane and tell actors that they have to come here or I’ll beat them. It’s the passion that drives you. I have no purpose other than getting the best for the scene. For that, we pick a time and a location, and the actors should know that we are doing it for a purpose. It’s a creative call to do it in such a fashion.

For them to care enough, you have to set the pace. You have to lead from the front. You have to be there and they will be convinced, and they will be with you. All of them want to make good films. All of them want to act well and it to be captured well. So they are willing to do anything that will make it happen.

Q.    How do you choose your cast?

A. Sometimes when you start writing the story, you have a sense of who it could be. But that person should also be interested. By the end of writing it, you might have changed the character. So there is no fixed way. Getting the cast right is a crucial aspect of filming. That will make the character much more believable. So we take a lot of effort in casting. Sometimes we are lucky to find the right person who is available and willing, and then the film happens.

Q.    Like getting Dulquer Salman and Nithya Menen for O Kadhal Kanmani?

A. I think it is true for any film. If, for example, Abhishek Bachchan did not do Guru, and somebody else did it, it would be a different film. The artists bring so much into the characters that they also dictate the film to a large extent.

O Kadhal Kanmani in a way had much about today’s generation coming out, their lives and things like that. So it was good to have somebody fresh for the Tamil field, like DQ, to come in and do the film. He is also so experienced and such a good actor that he adds more value. He brings in that freshness, where you look at it as a character, and not just as an actor-star doing a role…. And Nithya, of course, was a pleasure to work with. She is just gifted. I was very lucky to get the two of them. The film is what it is because of them.

Q.    There is a collaborative synergy in all your films, right from cinematography to artists, music and editing. Can you tell me the art of invoking such collaboration?

A. This collaborative synergy has to be there to ensure that the film is a super hit, or it delivers what you expect. I think there is not one way of making films; there are different ways. There are people who have such clarity that they just lead the way and the rest of them just follow. They know the entire thing. Some of us, though, convert filmmaking into a collaborative effort. I would like every one of them to pitch in to add value to the film.

Q.    If you are asked to revisit your movies, which one would you watch now?

A. Why would I revisit? I have done the film. It’s there. You don’t have to revisit your own work.

Q.    So you wouldn’t revisit any of your films at any point?

A. It’s difficult to watch your own work. For me, it is very difficult. Once a film is over, to me, it is over. And if I see it [again], I will see only mistakes. So it is best that I leave it alone.

Q.    You took the pan India approach before others could even think of it. How difficult was it to shoot films simultaneously in two or three languages?

A. Pan India—we are all going to town with that coinage. I think when you start a film, you start with the intention of making a good film. That is all. Don’t think that this will travel all over the place; or that we have to make one for the length and breadth of the country. If you start thinking in those terms, you tend to go towards the lowest common denominator.

I think if the film connects, it just travels. Today, with all the platforms that are available and people getting exposed to various languages, it becomes a lot easier. So it’s just best to do the films that you believe in and keep them as rooted as possible.

Q.    The world has changed, and so has the film industry. How do you adapt to changes—especially in terms of deciding a story line, choosing artistes, and making the film technically suave?

A. I adapt exactly the way you adapt.

It is not that I want to give a different message to the new generation. I don’t look at it like that. I don’t even think it is my job to give messages. My job is to have a conversation. Think aloud—that’s what I do. What I try to do.

Q.    As cinematographers, P.C. Sreeram and Ravi Varman captured your thoughts through their lens. How do you view them?

A. When I have an idea for a film, I bounce it off the music director, the cinematographer, and maybe the editor. To me, they are the core team. They are in it from the very first stage.

I discuss various versions of the film in the early stages, when we don’t even bring in the lens or the equipment that is required. We just look at the story, the screenplay, the scene, the characters…. To me, they are co-filmmakers.

Q.    You have not worked with Sreeram since O Kadhal Kanmani, which was ten years ago. Do you miss him?

A. Of course, I miss him.

Q.    Would you accommodate him if he wants to make more movies with you?

A. We never believed in accommodating each other. Accommodating is not the term actually. Not the term at all.

I would definitely want to do another film with him. We have always had this belief that we can do films together. Before I got into the film industry, PC and I used to carry my script and go from producer to producer. He got a break somewhere, I got a break at another place, and it took several years before we could come together. And when we worked together, we were ready to push each other. We were ready to experiment, fall down, make mistakes, learn from it and carry on. And we also realise that it is good for us to keep developing individually. He would work with others. I will work with others. And we can come back anytime. He has been somebody with whom my dreams of making cinema has developed.

Q.    You have made films with Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dulquer and Prithviraj. What is your take on the Malayalam industry?

A. I think it is the best industry. They make amazing films; the talent keeps coming up; and the writers are fantastic. They are really setting the bar very high.

Q.    You are an avid reader. Who is the author you read the most now?

A. I read in between films. Now that this is over, I’ll get back to some reading.