Speciality of Camera in Mani's movies


Mani Ratnam, the versatile film director is known for his unique way of narrating the story. Not only, he ponders on the script, he also gives equal importance to technical aspects of the movie. Especially, when it comes to camera he is one of the best directors to get the maximum out of the cinematographers. His cinematographers are in the top position all over India. In his movie the camera speaks louder than dialogues. Now, let us see the details of his camera man in his movies.





Balu Mahendra :His first movie was Pallavi Anu Pallavi in Kannada. The movie had Anil Kapoor in the peak role. The camera was handled by the veteran camera man cum director Balu Mahendra . Initially, Balu had his own doubts about Mani because he has neither worked as an assistant director nor trained from any film institute. After, completing the movie Balu made a remarkable statement. The statement was “His enthusiasm is infectious.”





P.C.Sreeram :P.C.Sreeram is a long time friend of Mani Ratnam. The movies for this flourishing duo include Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Agni Nakshatiram, Geetanjali (Telugu), Thiruda Thiruda and Alai payudhey. Madhavan after receiving the filmfare award for debut actor thanked Mani as well as Sreeram, for showing him beautifully in the screen. So, whatever may be the situation P.C.Sreeram comes up in his own style and endorses the beauty to the film. Both of them have a great mutual understanding. P C Sreeram's work was much-admired in Mani Ratnam's films, as he always had the freedom to experiment.





Rajiv Menon : Rajiv Menon , a multi-faceted personality, a director as well as a cinematographer by profession. They both joined together for the movie Bombay. Frames in movie Bombay were perfectly composed and beautifully backlit even if this style involves total violation of tonal,focal and color continuity. The usual darkness that permeates the Mani screen is mostly not evidenced in this movie, partly because of the need for realism in much of the film. Rajiv’s feeling about Mani Ratnam is “I enjoyed working with him in Bombay. Mani Ratnam is a perfectionist. He will not stop until he is satisfied with his work. He is one of the very few directors in India who never compromises on details".





Santhosh Sivan : Santhosh Sivan, one of the renowned cinematographers in India, has 9 national awards under his name. He has joined hands with Mani Ratnam in movie like Dalapathi, Roja, Iruvar and Dil Se (Uyire in Tamil). The movie Dil Se was a great example for wonderful work of camera. Especially, in Dil Se Re song the camera work was extremely superb. Also, in movie Roja the terror in Jammu & Kashmir was picturised fantastically. The real situation prevailing there was brought before your eyes. No one could forget those wonderful shots!


Ravi.K.Chandran :The latest tie-up of Mani Ratnam was with the ace cinematographer Ravi. K. Chandran. They both in cooperation worked for two movies, one was Kannathil Muthamittal and the other was Ayudha Ezhuthu (Yuva in Hindi). For the movie Kannathil Muthamital, Ravi bagged the national award. Ravi tried something different in Ayudha Eluthu. The whole movie was picturised in three different colors narrating the character of the heroes. A perfect match for the movie! “Mani Sir is the fastest among the directors, I have worked with”, Ravi said in an interview. He also added that “The good thing about Mani Ratnam is that he gives you the full concentration and energy required to shoot.”


Manikandan :Manikandan shot the mammoth song sequence Yakkai Thiri ... for Ayudha Ezhuthu and also some of the Ajay Devgan scenes for Yuva. Describing the experience of working with Mani Ratnam as "ultimate" the cameraman says, "Mani would be on the sets at 5 in the morning,

and would work through the day. We would have a 30-minute break for breakfast and lunch and that's it. None would leave the sets and neither would he. The shooting was down South in Pollachi and Theni. Ajay Devgan would tell us that he had never seen sunrise till he began shooting for Yuva. But that's how Mani Ratnam worked."