93-406: Madras Talkies is an Indian entertainment company, which was established by director Mani Ratnam and his brother G. Srinivasan as partners in 1995. Madras Talkies has actively involved in production of films and television serials, which are distributed all over the world. The company has produced fifteen feature films and six television serials. Prior to Madras Talkies, Ratnam previously served as
186-631: A "realistic" manner. Specifically, it told the story of the friction between a newly-wed couple. The score by Ilaiyaraaja was appreciated along with SPB in back ground score and became popular upon release. Mouna Raagam was subsequently dubbed into Telugu under the same title and became a hit in Andhra Pradesh as well. The film elevated Mani's status as a director, and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at
279-564: A biographical film based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani , a business magnate from India. The film starred Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai . The film, set in the early 1950s, became a box office success and received critical acclaim. Guru was screened at the Tous Les Cinemas du Monde (World Cinema) section of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival . In 2010, Mani worked on a bilingual film, titled Raavanan starting Vikram , Aishwarya Rai and Prithviraj Sukumaran in Tamil where in
372-465: A box office failure. Later the distributor of the film filed a police complaint against Mani on account of the huge losses suffered by him. His next film, romantic drama O Kadhal Kanmani starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen as the lead pair, was released in April 2015. The cinematography and editing of the film was handled by P.C. Sreeram and A. Sreekar Prasad respectively, while music
465-408: A chance to direct Pagal Nilavu (1985). The film had Murali and Revathi playing lead roles. It was different from his previous two films in that it included dance sequences and a "comedy track". The same year, he directed another Tamil film Idaya Kovil , a romantic drama . He remodeled a ready made script on the lines of Charlie Chaplin 's Limelight (1952). Despite being unsatisfied with
558-500: A chance to direct a film in Malayalam . Scripted by T. Damodaran and featuring Mohanlal as hero, Unaroo was about the corruption in labour unions of Kerala . The film was completed within two months and released in April 1984. Mani Ratnam attributed the failure of the film to the conflict of interests that he and the producer had. Following this, he entered Tamil cinema when G. Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films offered him
651-733: A child of Sri Lankan Tamil parentage adopted by Indian parents, who wishes to meet her biological mother during the Sri Lankan Civil War . The film was critically acclaimed and commercially successful, winning six National Film Awards , Filmfare Award for Best Direction in Tamil , In the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and an award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles . In 2004, he made Aayutha Ezhuthu , which tells
744-742: A degree in commerce from the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College , affiliated to the Madras University . Later, he did his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai . After finishing his post-graduation in 1977, he was employed in a firm in Madras as a management consultant, and continued to work there for sometime. Ratnam married actress Suhasini on 26 August 1988. The couple have
837-538: A film producer on several projects with Aalayam Productions , alongside S. Sriram . Through his own directorial venture, Iruvar (1997), Madras Talkies made its debut as Ratnam's official production studio. Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam , is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi , Telugu , Malayalam and Kannada films. He
930-471: A group of people namely P. C. Sreeram , Santhana Bharathi , and P. Vasu , who shared his interest of entering into the film industry. With a 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 he could get a chance to work along with them and get to know about the various aspects involved in film-making. He chose three directors—Balachander, Bharathiraja, and Mahendran. As
1023-418: A landmark film in Tamil cinema, Pasamalar is arguably one of the best films of Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri together. Once again directed by A Bhimsingh, the film has a cult following and rightly so. When it released in 1961, it became a trendsetter of sorts and was a money spinner at the box-office. Post its release, several films based on a similar theme were made, for example, Mullum Malarum . It also won
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#17327933814731116-889: A leading filmmaker in Tamil cinema which won him his first Filmfare Best Director Award . He was the director of the critically acclaimed Nayakan (1987) and Anjali (1990), both of which qualified as India's official entry for The Academy Awards . He found success with the crime drama Thalapathi , romantic terrorism drama Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Dil Se.. (1998), and his romantic trilogy of Mouna Ragam (1986), Alai Payuthey (2000), O Kadhal Kanmani (2015). Each of his films contain its own unique style, with beautifully photographed songs and unique back-lighting. Exploring success in romantic, terrorism war and drama films. His epic historical dramas, Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023), based on
1209-783: A majority of his films. Lauded for his casting in each of his films, he claimed in an interview that "I am not a director who performs and shows. I discuss the role, the scene with my actors and let them bring life to it". Right from the beginning of his career, his works were noted for their technical expertise in areas such as cinematography, art direction, editing and background score. For his debut film, he managed to handpick Balu Mahendra, Thotta Tharani , B. Lenin , and Ilaiyaraaja , leading craftsmen in their respective fields. As his career progressed, he worked with his childhood friend P. C. Sreeram and continued his collaborations with him until Geethanjali . In 1991 for his film Thalapathi , he chose Santosh Sivan and Suresh Urs —both newcomers to
1302-646: A monument. He has donated elephants to many temples like Venkateswara Temple , Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur . Ganesan started his political career as an activist of the Dravidar Kazhagam . Ganesan joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after it was founded by C. N. Annadurai in 1949. Until 1956, Ganesan was a staunch supporter of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). In the 1950s, however, Sivaji Ganesan
1395-525: A more light-hearted approach with his next film— Thiruda Thiruda (1993). Scripted by Ram Gopal Varma , the film was a fun filled caper, which was a departure from Mani's previous style and fared moderately well at the box office. Thiruda Thiruda was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1994. Mani again teamed up with Ram Gopal Varma to provide the screenplay for the latter's Telugu film Gaayam ,
1488-587: A single film and in extension, inspiring subsequent films (at least) in Tamil like "Navarathinam" (the great MGR – starred), "Dasavatharam" (featuring Kamal Haasan), a man with a scared face as in Deiva Magan , a murderer in Pudhiya Paravai , or a traitor as in Andha Naal , the first movie that had no songs at all. On 1 October 2021, Google commemorated Ganesan's 93rd birth anniversary with
1581-437: A socio-politico film loosely based on The Godfather . In 1995, Mani returned to Tamil language drama through Bombay starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala , which told the story of a Hindu-Muslim couple in the midst of the 1993 religious Bombay riots and bombings . It was also the first Indian film to focus on marriage between Hindu and Muslim people. The film met with controversy and censorship upon release. It
1674-592: A son. The family resides in Alwarpet , Chennai, where he runs his production company, Madras Talkies . In 1995, Mani Ratnam was wounded and hospitalised after homemade bombs were thrown at his home by attackers, suspected by police as Islamic extremists , in the wake of opposition to his film Bombay which portrayed the romance of a Hindu man with a Muslim woman. An FIR was filed on Mani Ratnam and 49 others in 2019 when they wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi listing statistics and expressing concern over
1767-412: A special tribute to Mani. His films Roja , Bombay , and Dil Se were screened at the museum as a retrospective. Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy , better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ganesan
1860-573: A touring stage drama company at the age of seven. At the age of 10, he moved to Tiruchirappalli and joined a drama troupe in Sangiliyandapuram and began to perform in stage plays. From the drama troupe trainers, he was fortunate enough to learn acting and dancing. He was trained in Bharatanatyam , Kathak and Manipuri dance forms. Ganesan exhibited the ability to remember lengthy lines easily. The group favoured Ganesan to play
1953-461: A variety of roles such as freedom fighters, like Tiruppur Kumaran , Bhagat Singh and epic characters like Karna , Bharatha , Narada , Appar , Nayanmars and Alwars . Spanning genres like epics to Crime thrillers; from romantic escapades to comic flicks and action flicks, Ganesan has covered it all. Ganesan played supporting role to Rajendra Kumar in the Hindi film Dharti in 1970, which
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#17327933814732046-513: A youngster, films seemed like a waste of time", he claimed in a 1994 interview; however, he started watching films more actively when he was studying at the Besant Theosophical School. During this time, he developed an admiration for actors like Sivaji Ganesan and Nagesh ; watching all their films. When he discovered the legendary director K. Balachander , he became his fan. Upon completing his schooling, he graduated with
2139-454: Is a notable Tamil actor. Ganesan established a film production company in the late 1950s, now called Sivaji Productions , which is now being looked after by his elder son Ramkumar . He has two daughters Shanthi and Thenmozhi. Two of his grandsons namely Vikram Prabhu and Dushyant Ramkumar have also appeared in films, with Ramkumar's son Dushyanth Ramkumar having the stage name of Junior Sivaji. Moreover, Prabhu's son Vikram Prabhu debuted in
2232-448: Is acknowledged as one of the greatest Indian actors of all time and among the most imitated one by other actors. He was known for his versatility and the variety of roles he depicted on screen, which also gave him the Tamil nickname Nadigar Thilagam ( transl. the pride of actors ). In a career that spanned close to five decades, he had acted in 288 films in Tamil , Telugu , Kannada , Malayalam and Hindi . Sivaji Ganesan
2325-592: Is known for his versatility and has acted as a blind man in Palum Pazhamum , a physically handicapped person in Bhaaga Pirivinai , enacting Nine numbers of totally different personas from various social strata and the corresponding body language (gait, voice, facial expression, etc.) in " Navarathiri", thereby becoming probably the first-time in Indian cinema history as an actor reprising Nine roles in
2418-563: Is one of India's most acclaimed and commercially successful filmmakers. Ratnam has won seven National Film Awards , four Filmfare Awards , six Filmfare Awards South , and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. 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
2511-695: Is the only actor in Tamil cinema to have played the lead role in over 250 films. Ganesan was the first Indian actor to win a "Best Actor" award in an International film festival, the Afro-Asian Film Festival held in Cairo , Egypt in 1960. Many leading South Indian actors have stated that their acting was influenced by Ganesan. In 1997, Ganesan was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award , the highest honour for films in India. He
2604-789: Is well recognized outside India with a retrospective of his films held at various film festivals around the world such as Toronto International Film Festival , Busan International Film Festival , Tokyo Filmex and Birmingham International Film Festival. His films are being screened regularly at many film festivals such as Venice Film Festival , Rotterdam Film Festival , Montreal World Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival . The Government of India honoured Mani with Padma Shri in 2002. He has won several National Film Awards , Filmfare Awards , Filmfare Awards South and state awards. Apart from these awards, many of his films have been screened at various film festivals and have won numerous accolades. Geethanjali , directed by him won
2697-799: The 18th Moscow International Film Festival . In 2010, Mani was honoured with Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. In July 2015, he was honoured with the Sun Mark Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival for his esteemed contribution to international cinema. Around the same time, the Museum of the Moving Image , New York City, paid
2790-401: The 34th National Film Awards . He won his first Filmfare Award for directing the film. In 1987, Mani directed Nayakan starring Kamal Haasan , and the film became a huge success and brought him recognition at the national level. Inspired by the 1972 American crime film, The Godfather , the film was based on the real-life story of underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar , and tells
2883-490: The 35th National Film Awards . The film was India's official entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not nominated. Following these two commercial successes, Mani wrote and directed Agni Natchathiram in 1988. The film deals with the story of half-brothers played by Prabhu and Karthik and is notable for its use of new techniques in camera framework, especially during
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2976-681: The Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film at the 37th National Film Awards . Other films like Mouna Ragam , Anjali , and Kannathil Muthamittal have won the Best Regional Film awards at the National Film Awards . Two of his films, Roja and Bombay have won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration . The former was also nominated for Best Film category at
3069-610: The Kargil War , followed a pilot who, during his time as a prisoner of war, reflects on his failed love life. Kaatru Veliyidai was released in April 2017 to mixed reviews and received an average box office return. After Kattru Veliyadai , Ratnam's next film was the crime thriller Chekka Chivantha Vaanam , starring Arvind Swami , Silambarasan , Arun Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi as the lead actors, while Jyothika , Aishwarya Rajesh , Aditi Rao Hydari and Dayana Erappa, Prakash Raj , Thiagarajan , and Mansoor Ali Khan rounded out
3162-470: The National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment in 1990. In addition, it won the Best Director and Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for Mani. Mani maintained a momentum of making emotional stories of under-served people through the film Anjali in 1990, which starred Baby Shamili as the central character. The film which also had Raghuvaran and Revathy , told
3255-545: The 1960s and 1970s his films have been well received and he was able to deliver constant hits. Some of his famous hits during this period are Vasantha Maligai , Gauravam , Thanga Pathakkam and Sathyam . Many of his films inspired remakes in Sinhalese . Films such as Pilot Premnath and Mohana Punnagai were shot in Sri Lanka , with Sri Lankan actors such as Malini Fonseka and Geetha Kumarasinghe playing
3348-574: The 1980s, his supporting roles were received positively, as in Thevar Magan , which won him the National Awards Jury's Special Jury award in 1993. Sivaji, incidentally, declined the award. Sivaji Ganesan is considered one of the best Indian actors of all time. He was also acknowledged as a consummate actor and one of the most imitated ones. He was praised for his body language and his resounding voice and dialogue delivery. Ganesan
3441-539: The Indian epic written by Kalki Krishnamurthy , were critical and commercial blockbusters with the former becoming the 25th highest-grossing film in India and 5th highest-grossing Tamil film . Mani Ratnam was born on 2 June 1956 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu as the second child of a Tamil Brahmin family that was closely associated with film production. His father, S. Gopalaratnam, was a film distributor who worked for Venus Pictures, while his uncle, "Venus" Krishnamurthy,
3534-797: The National Award that year and was remade in several languages. Uthama Puthiran is the first film to feature Ganesan in dual roles and the first Indian film to have the shots with zoom technique. Sivaji Ganesan has acted in many Tamil movies co-starring with many popular and talented Tamil actresses of his time. He gave many commercial success films such as Palum Pazhamum , Irumbu Thirai , Padikkadha Medhai , Paava Mannippu , Padithal Mattum Podhuma , Aalayamani , Iruvar Ullam , Annai Illam , Aandavan Kattalai , Kappalottiya Thamizhan , Mahabharata (1965), Kai Koduttha Dheivam , Puthiya Paravai and his 100th film, Navarathri whereby ganesan acted nine distinct roles in
3627-792: The Tamil film industry—to do cinematography and editing respectively. Both would later become a part of his regular crew. While working on Raavan , Santosh Sivan noted "any cameraman can hone his skills just working with Mani" and described Mani Ratnam's films as difficult to film. From his debut project till Thalapathi , Ilaiyaraaja was his regular composer. For his next film Roja (1992), he collaborated with debutant A. R. Rahman , who has been his regular composer for all his films till date. Among cinematographers, he has also worked with Madhu Ambat , Rajiv Menon , Ravi K. Chandran , V. Manikandan and Ravi Varman while switching between Sreeram and Santosh Sivan otherwise. Since Alaipayuthey , Sreekar Prasad has been his regular film editor. Mani
3720-608: The United States in June 1995, he visited Columbus, Ohio . Participating in the dinner hosted to honour Ganesan, the mayor of the city, Greg Lashutka honoured him by announcing him as an honorary citizen of Columbus. On the same occasion, the mayor of Mount Vernon read out and gave him a special welcome citation. The Columbus Tamil Sangam was formulated on that day and Ganesan was made the honorary president of that association. Although Sivaji appeared less in leading roles after
3813-510: The attempts to meet and convince all the three proved to be unsuccessful, he decided to look out for a producer. In the process, he along with P. C. Sreeram —who would collaborate with him in most of his future projects—met around 20 people; however, all the efforts turned out to be unsuccessful. Mani Ratnam developed a script—originally written in English—into a film and named it Pallavi Anu Pallavi . His uncle Krishnamurthy agreed to produce
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3906-423: The crew. The film, however, did not take off and was eventually shelved. Nevertheless, he was firm in his idea of becoming a film-maker. Although not impressed with many of the films made in Tamil cinema, he was "amazed" at Bharathiraja 's 16 Vayathinile (1977), K. Balachander 's Apoorva Raagangal (1975), and Mahendran 's Mullum Malarum (1978) and Uthiripookkal (1979). During this time, he befriended
3999-515: The critically acclaimed Thevar Magan , which won him a Special Mention Award at the 40th National Film Awards . His other films released during this period are Pasumpon , Once More , En Aasai Rasave and Mannavaru Chinnavaru , where he was cast in prominent roles. He acted with Mohanlal in the movie Oru Yathramozhi (1997). He worked in Pooparika Varugirom , which released as his last film before his death, however
4092-549: The critically acclaimed film Kumki in 2012. Suffering from respiratory problems, Ganesan was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in Chennai on 1 July 2001. He also had been suffering from a prolonged heart ailment for about 10 years. He died at 7:45 pm (IST) on 21 July 2001 at the age of 72 just three months prior to his 73rd birthday for which he had special plans. A documentary Parasakthi Muthal Padayappa Varai
4185-645: The critically successful Iruvar with Mohanlal , Aishwarya Rai , Tabu and Prakash Raj in the lead. Iruvar was awarded the Best Film at the "Festival of the Auteur Films" at the FEST film festival held in Belgrade . In 1998 came the third part of his "terrorism trilogy", named Dil Se.. and starring Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala , with the latter fabricating the second collaboration. It showed
4278-478: The critics compared to its other versions. The New York Times called the movie a "critics' pick". However, the reviewers of the Hindi version panned the film; Rajeev Masand said it was "a crushing bore of a film, a disappointment on virtually every count" The Tamil version was declared a box office success. Mani's film, Kadal was released worldwide on 1 February 2013 to mixed reviews from critics and became
4371-623: The domestic market, despite being a success overseas. It was screened in many international film festivals, and won the Netpac award (Ex-Aqueo) in the Berlin International Film Festival . The film over the years has achieved cult classic status. In 2000, Mani directed the romantic drama Alaipayuthey that starred R. Madhavan and Shalini . The film focussed on marriage and explored relationships and their consequences, and garnered critical recognition. It
4464-546: The entry of Ganesan into films: The principal artists in Tamil films during the 1940s and 1950s were Telugus , whose acting was not matched by their dialogue delivery in Tamil. (In fact, Sivaji Ganesan lent his voice to Mukkamala Krishna Murthy, a Telugu actor, for a Tamil film Niraparathi . The film was well received by the Tamil audience.) Secondly, the 1950s saw the growth of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, under
4557-471: The female lead. In 1979, he appeared in the biggest blockbuster of his career, Thirisoolam his 200th film, an adaptation of the Kannada film Shankar Guru in which Rajkumar had played the lead role. Muthal Mariyathai (1985) won him a Filmfare Award under Best Actor – Tamil category. The 1990s was a period in which Ganesan started enacting matured roles. In 1992, he acted with Kamal Haasan in
4650-420: The film but imposed a condition that it should be made under a limited budget in Kannada , to which he agreed. He persuaded Balu Mahendra to do the cinematography as he found the latter's work to be very impressive. He managed to get other crew members B. Lenin (for Film editing), Thota Tharani (for art direction ) and Ilaiyaraaja (for composer music), all leading craftsmen in their respective fields. For
4743-540: The film look was unveiled at 2010 Cannes Film Festival , as part of its marketing campaign. and Raavan in Hindi. The Tamil version was dubbed into Telugu and titled Villain . The film was released worldwide on 18 June 2010. The film is loosely based on the Hindu epic Ramayana ; its narrative occurs over 14 days when a revolutionist named Veera, who lives in a forest, kidnaps a policeman's wife to avenge his sister's death. The Tamil version received positive reviews from
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#17327933814734836-771: The film rights of Parasakthi . P.A. Perumal cast Ganesan after being impressed with his performance as Nur Jahan in the Sakthi Nadaga Sabha play of the same name. It was he who, in 1950, gave Ganesan a flight ticket to Madras for the screen test for Parasakthi . Ganesan had simultaneously shot for the Telugu-Tamil bilingual film Paradesi / Poongothai , which was supposed to be his actual film to release first, but released much later after Perumal requested its co-producer Anjali Devi to let Parasakthi release first, and she agreed. Parasakthi did not begin well for Ganesan. When shooting began and 2000 feet of
4929-417: The film was shot, Meiyappan was dissatisfied with Ganesan's "thin" physique, and wanted him replaced with K. R. Ramasamy . Perumal refused, and Ganesan was retained. Meiyappan was also satisfied with the final results of the film. The initial scenes of Ganesan which he earlier disliked were reshot. Ganesan was paid a monthly salary of ₹ 250 (valued at about US$ 52.5 in 1952 ) for acting in the film. The script
5022-661: The film. It is arguably one of Sivaji Ganesan's best films in its tribute to the actor. He had comedic roles in several movies, such as Kalyanam Panniyum Brahmachari (1954), Sabaash Meena (1958), Ooty Varai Uravu (1967), and Galatta Kalyanam (1968). His portrayal of Lord Shiva in the movie Thiruvilayadal (1965) won him many accolades. Ganesan could strike a balance between commercial cinema, Mythological cinema and experimental cinema. His epical portrayals in films such as Thiruvilayaadal , Thiruvarutselvar , Saraswati Sabatham , Thirumal Perumai and Thillana Mohanambal won him critical acclaim. He played
5115-403: The final product, the film was a major box-office success. The phase between 1983 and 1986 was the toughest of his career with only Pallavi Anupallavi feeling satisfactory; the other three completed with a lot of "compromises". In 1986, Mani directed the Tamil romantic drama Mouna Ragam , which starred Revathi and Mohan . The film was critically acclaimed for portraying urban Tamils in
5208-406: The industry. A majority of his films are characterized by a string of socio-political themes. Because of his idea of combining art and commercial elements, most of his films garnered both critical acclaim and commercial success. Nayakan , Bombay and Iruvar were inspired from real-life incidents, while Thalapathi and Raavan were based on Indian epics. Mani Ratnam handled screenplays for
5301-407: The lead and he would continue to do so. His portrayal of Shivaji in the stage play Shivaji Kanda Hindu Rajyam written by C. N. Annadurai earned him the monicker "Sivaji", which was conferred on him at a public function presided over by social reformer Periyar . Since then, he was referred to by the name of "Sivaji". Ganesan made his acting debut in the 1952 Tamil film Parasakthi , which
5394-427: The leadership of C. N. Annadurai , and M. Karunanidhi . Their transformation of language skills to films through script writing ensured their instant acceptance. Ganesan's entry into films at this stage of popularity was easy and inevitable, and he could establish himself in a better position. Andha Naal (1954) was a trendsetter in Tamil cinema because it had no songs and Ganesan played an anti-hero. The film won
5487-662: The male lead, he cast Anil Kapoor after watching his performance in the Telugu film Vamsa Vruksham (1980). Lakshmi was signed up as the female lead. The film explored the relationship between a young man and an older woman. Although an average grosser at the box-office, the film fetched Mani Ratnam the Best Screenplay Award from the Karnataka State Government for the year 1983. After watching Pallavi Anu Pallavi , N. G. John offered him
5580-402: The original AIADMK. Tamil Nadu Congress decided to ally with Jayalalitha's fragment of AIADMK. This move was opposed by Sivaji Ganesan and hence he left the party along with his supporters to form the new party Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani on 10 February 1988. To popularise the party Ganesan produce a movie titled En Thamizh En Makkal (My Tamil language and my people). At the time the party
5673-419: The penultimate film he worked in before his death was Padayappa (1999). Chinna Ponnusamy Padayatchi is the teacher of theatrical arts who trained Ganesan in his troupe. During an interview with V.S. Srinivasan, Ganesan said: "Theatre has taught me everything. My teacher ( Chinna Ponnuswamy Padayachi of Chidambaram ) taught me Bharatnatyam , acting , body movements & practically everything. Padayachi,
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#17327933814735766-611: The president's silver medal the following year. The same year, he co-starred with his competitor M. G. Ramachandran in Koondukkili , where he played the antagonist. His role in the film Veerapandiya Kattabomman won him the Best Actor Award at the Afro-Asian Film Festival held in March 1960 at Cairo . Incidentally, Ganesan was also the first Indian actor to get an award for Best Actor abroad. Often considered to be
5859-456: The prominent roles. The venture was jointly produced by Mani Ratnam and Subaskaran under their banners, Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions . The music was composed by A. R. Rahman , while Ravi Varman handled the cinematography of the film. A. Sreekar Prasad was the editor. Initially planned as one film, reminiscent of Mughal-E-Azam , Ponniyin Selvan was divided into two parts. This
5952-426: The relationship between a young man and a dangerous, disturbed woman. Although they fall in love, she is unable to take the romance further due to her bleak past. The soundtrack album, again composed by A. R. Rahman, gained mass appeal and gave Rahman his next Filmfare Award for Best Music Direction in 1999. Unlike his previous two projects, Dil Se.. opened with little note among film critics and performed poorly in
6045-498: The rise of communal violence against minorities including Muslims , Christians and Dalits since Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power in 2014. 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
6138-688: The role of India's cultural ambassador. During his visit there, he was honoured by being made the honorary mayor of Niagara Falls, New York , for one day and was presented the golden key to the city . The only other Indian who has had this honour before Ganesan was Jawaharlal Nehru. Upon returning to India from both Egypt and the US, massive crowds of fans were present at Madras Airport to celebrate his arrival. On 22 March 1976, he travelled to Mauritius on an invitation from Prime Minister Ramagoolam and took part in their independence day celebrations and stayed as their government guest for four days. During his visit to
6231-556: The script of the film. Mani Ratnam took a sabbatical from his job 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 , Ambareesh , Lakshmi , and Roja Ramani . When the filming was about to begin in Kolar, Karnataka , Mani Ratnam left his consulting job and joined
6324-421: The songs. The film had a successful run in the box office. In 1989, Telugu actor Nagarjuna and Mani Ratnam collaborated for a Telugu film and it remains the only Telugu film directed by Ratnam. The film Geethanjali which had Nagarjuna and Girija Shettar in the lead, told the story of an ill-fated couple, both of whom are suffering from terminal diseases. Geethanjali was critically acclaimed and won
6417-490: The story of an autistic child who changed the lives of people around her. The film proved to be a commercial success and was nominated as India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 63rd Academy Awards . Following Anjali's release, Mani later made another underworld-themed Tamil film, Thalapathi (1991), starring Rajinikanth and Mammootty . The film
6510-640: The story of an orphaned slum-dweller and his rise to top of the Bombay underworld hierarchy . It was included in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Movies in 2005. Satyajit Ray 's The Apu Trilogy and Guru Dutt 's Pyaasa are the only other Indian films that have appeared in the list. Indian critics dubbed the film as India's answer to The Godfather . Nayakan was both commercially successful and critically acclaimed winning three National Awards— Best Actor , Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction —at
6603-520: The story of how one incident sends the lives of three youths on a collision course and received positive reviews. Mani made the film simultaneously in Hindi as Yuva , his second venture into Bollywood. Ajay Devgn , Abhishek Bachchan , and Vivek Oberoi replaced Surya Sivakumar , R. Madhavan , and Siddharth , respectively in the Hindi version. Unlike Yuva , Aayutha Ezhuthu was appreciated by critics. Mani suffered his first heart attack while shooting Aayutha Ezhuthu . In 2007, Mani made Guru ,
6696-774: The supporting cast. The film followed three children as they battled for complete power of their crime family following their father's unexpected demise. Chekka Chivantha Vaanam opened in September 2018 to positive reviews and was a box office success. His next project was confirmed to be Ponniyin Selvan: I , based on the Indian epic written by Kalki Krishnamurthy . The film has an ensemble cast consisting of Vikram , Karthi , Jayam Ravi , Jayaram , Rahman , Aishwarya Rai , Trisha , Aishwarya Lekshmi , R. Parthiban , Lal , Babu Antony , Ashwin Kakumanu , Prabhu , Sarathkumar , Sobhita Dhulipala , Vikram Prabhu and many more, play
6789-479: Was a film producer. His elder brother G. Venkateswaran (died 2003) would go on to produce some of his films. His younger brother G. Srinivasan (died 2007), like G. Venkateswaran, would also co-produce some of his films. Mani Ratnam grew up in Madras (now Chennai), along with his siblings and cousins. Despite being a film family, the children were not allowed to watch films as the elders considered them taboo. "As
6882-639: Was a remake of his 1969 Tamil film Sivandha Mann , in which he played the lead role. In the Hindi version, Ganesan played the role which Muthuraman had played in the original. Several directors such as Krishnan–Panju , T. R. Sundaram , T. R. Ramanna , A. P. Nagarajan , L. V. Prasad , B. R. Panthulu , T. Prakash Rao , D. Yoganand , A. Bhim Singh , K. Shankar , C. V. Sridhar , A. C. Tirulokchandar , P. Madhavan , K. S. Gopalakrishnan , Muktha V.Srinivasan , C. V. Rajendran , and K. Vijayan directed Ganesan in different roles. Jaggayya offered his voice to Sivaji when his movies were dubbed into Telugu. In
6975-494: Was also screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. Along with Vasanth , he was instrumental in organizing Netru, Indru, Naalai , a stage musical that marked the first theatre production, with numerous other artistes, to aid The Banyan , an organization that rehabilitates women and children with mental illness. Mani's next film, Kannathil Muthamittal , dealt with the story of
7068-538: Was also the first Indian actor to be made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres . In addition, he received National Film Award (Special Jury) , four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards . Ganesan is remembered as an iconic figure of Tamil cinema. Upon his death, The Los Angeles Times described him as "the Marlon Brando of south India's film industry". Ganesan
7161-493: Was born on 1 October 1928, as the fourth son of Chinnaiya Manrayar and Rajamani Ammal in Villupuram , India in a Kallar family. Early in his career, Ganesan acted under the name V. C. Ganesan. Media outlets said that the initial 'V' stood for Villupuram, though one of Ganesan's sons stated that it stands for Vettaithidal, a village from which their family originates. Without his father's consent, Ganesan decided to join
7254-566: Was created it was considered to be pro- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam . The party opposed the presence of Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka stating that the force was trying to wipe out the LTTE and its leader V. Prabhakaran . The party also urged the Government of India to hold talks with the LTTE without any pre- condition. In the 1989 elections, his party lost all of its seats in favor of V. N. Janaki Ramachandran . Sivaji himself
7347-630: Was criticized for going "against the stated values of rationalism" during a visit to Tirupathi. In 1956 he left the DMK. Due to his popularity, he was requested to be part of the Indian National Congress Tamil Nadu. His respect for Kamaraj made him support Congress. From 1964, Ganesan became a strong supporter of the Indian National Congress . He embraced Congress leader Kamarajar's leadership. He
7440-578: Was defeated by DMK candidate Durai Chandrasekaran in the Tiruvayaru seat by a difference of 10,643 votes. He later joined the Janata Dal under VP Singh and rose through the ranks to become the party's state president, but his political career came to an end in 1993. (1956-1961) Ganesan was the fourth son of his family. He had three brothers and one sister. Ganesan married Kamala on 1 May 1952 and had four children. His younger son Prabhu
7533-571: Was directed by the Krishnan–Panju duo and co-starred actress Pandari Bai . The film became an instant commercial success, running for over 175 days in several theatres, and ran for over 50 days in all the 62 centres it was released, and at the Sri Lanka–based Mailan Theatre, it ran for nearly 40 weeks. Film distributor P. A. Perumal Mudaliar of National Pictures , with the patronage of A. V. Meiyappan of AVM Productions , bought
7626-673: Was done to ensure that the audience would not be confused with the screenplay and story, adapted from the five books of the epic. The first part, Ponniyin Selvan: I , was released theatrically, on 30 September 2022. The second part released on 28 April 2023. Mani Ratnam grew up watching the films of K. Balachander , Guru Dutt and Sivaji Ganesan . He is greatly influenced by the film-making styles of Akira Kurosawa , Martin Scorsese , Krzysztof Kieślowski , Ingmar Bergman and Mahendran . Unlike most of his contemporaries, Mani Ratnam did not assist anybody in film-making prior to entering
7719-472: Was himself an outstanding stage actor and I learnt in an atmosphere that was reminiscent of an ashram school." Sivaji Ganesan has made many financial contributions during natural disasters and for the educational development. In 1960, K. Kamaraj introduced the Midday Meal Scheme for which Sivaji Ganesan donated one lakh rupees. Sivaji Ganesan presented a 80 gram gold chain to P. Kakkan , who
7812-599: Was living in poverty, and also he donated the entire proceeds from the play 'Thanga Padhakkam' which is held at the Salem Nehru Auditorium. He also donated a large amount of money during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 . Sivaji ganesan bought the place where Veerapandiya Kattabomman was hanged in Kayatharu and placed a statue of Veerapandiya Kattabomman at his expense which is still remain
7905-679: Was loosely based on Mahabharata , dealt with the friendship between Karna and Duryodhana portrayed by Rajinikanth and Mammmooty respectively. The film met with both critical acclaim and commercial success upon release. Ilaiyaraaja's musical score and Mani's work were highly appreciated as they both went on to win the Music Director and Best Director awards respectively at the 39th Filmfare Awards . With Thalapathy , Mani ended his long-term association with music director Ilaiyaraaja, bringing in debutant music director A. R. Rahman to score his Tamil classic Roja (1992). The venture
7998-584: Was made the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . Indira Gandhi's death in 1984 also brought Ganesan's political career to an end. After the death of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) founder and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran in 1987, AIADMK broke into two, one headed by his wife V. N. Janaki Ramachandran and other by another Tamil movie star J. Jayalalithaa . Election Commission of India refused to accept either of them as
8091-543: Was made to commemorate Sivaji Ganesan's legacy. He was given a State funeral . His funeral the next day was telecast live on Sun TV and was attended by thousands of viewers, politicians and personalities from the South Indian film fraternity. Ramkumar, performed his last rites at the Besant Nagar Crematorium, Chennai. When President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt visited India, Sivaji Ganesan
8184-530: Was scored by A. R. Rahman . The film depicted the life of a young couple in a live-in relationship in Mumbai, and was said to be a "reflection of the modern mindset of urban India", dealing with issues such as marriage and traditional values. Made at a small budget of 6 crores, the film achieved widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. His next was Kaatru Veliyidai , starring Karthi , Aditi Rao Hydari and RJ Balaji . The film, set in 1999 during
8277-832: Was subsequently dubbed into Hindi where it gained commercial success and appreciation by critics. It won a number of awards, such as Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration , Political Film Society Awards|Special Award from the Political Film Society , In the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival and the Gala Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival . Mani produced his wife's directorial debut film, Indira , and then directed
8370-521: Was successful, earning Mani various awards. Roja , a romantic film, was about terrorism in the Kashmir region. Starring Arvind Swamy and Madhoo , it was nominated for the Golden St. George Award at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival . It became highly popular, gaining an iconic status in Indian cinema and was dubbed into other languages and met similar success in other regions. Mani took
8463-443: Was the only individual granted permission by the then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru , to host a party for Nasser. Nasser was given a number of valuable mementos depicting the civilisation and culture of South India. Sivaji Ganesan was the first artist from India to visit the United States in a cultural exchange programme by the US government. In 1962, Ganesan was invited by the then-US President John F. Kennedy , where he took
8556-489: Was written by later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu , M. Karunanidhi . Since actors who are well-trained in classical dance can effectively showcase expressions called Nava Rasa on their faces, Ganesan went on to become one of the popular actors in Tamil cinema in the 1950s. His unique voice had a greater appeal. His style of dialogue delivery with a long spell of dialogues—like a poetry recitation with much clarity—earned him critical recognition. Two factors can be attributed
8649-405: Was young. Upon completion of his post graduation in management, he started his career as a consultant. He entered the film industry through the 1983 Kannada film , Pallavi Anu Pallavi . The failure of his subsequent films would mean that he would be left with fewer offers. After working in Telugu and Malayalam Cinema, he made his major breakthrough with Mouna Ragam (1986), established him as
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