MANI RATNAM - Overrated director
Ravi Krishna
IMO Mani Ratnam is a hyped and an overrated director. Let's take his films
one by one.
1. Mouna Ragam - Very good movie with excellent acting by Revathy. Of
course great music by Raja.
2. Nayakan - Another very good movie and great acting by Kamal.
3. Geetanjali in telegu and IT in tamil - The first of his disappointment.
Total junk , but for good music by Raja.
4. Anjali- OK movie . I didn't like it because it has a sad ending and I
don't have a particular liking for that kind of movie. Again good music
by Raja.
5. Dalapathy - Another junk , MR was in a total Nayagan hangover. Raja's
music was not upto the mark. Perhaps this what forced MR to switch over
to Rehman.
6. Roja - Good movie. Nothing exceptional. Good music by Rahman.
7. Thiruda Thiruda - Total junk , except for excellent music by Rahman.
Even a 'C' grade English movie is better than this.
8. Bombay - The most overrated movie. Junk. The first half was atleast
OK , the second was unwatchable. Music OK.
I don't know why everyone says that MR is the best , greatest. It's sad that
a director of Govind Nihlani's calibre is unemployed and MR is the most sought
after director. MR is at best a competent director but nothing great.
One has to just see the movies of these two directors.
Ikram Ahmed Khan
Ravi Krishna wrote:
> IMO Mani Ratnam is a hyped and an overrated director. Let's take his films
> one by one.
> music was not upto the mark. Perhaps this what forced MR to switch over
> to Rehman.
'a' as in .... :) :)
> 7. Thiruda Thiruda - Total junk , except for excellent music by Rahman.
> Even a 'C' grade English movie is better than this.
Can't say about the other movies. But I really enjoyed TT. The high-tech
caper in a rural backdrop was done fairly well.
The camerawork was excellent. So was the light spoofing involved.
The elephant took the cake. :) And all in all, engaging yarn.
And by English, you meant the British product or Hollywood?? Hollywood
produces amazingly bad 'C' films. I would hate to even compare with
some of our worst. :)
> I don't know why everyone says that MR is the best , greatest. It's sad that
> a director of Govind Nihlani's calibre is unemployed and MR is the most sought
> after director. MR is at best a competent director but nothing great.
> One has to just see the movies of these two directors.
Govind Nihalani recently had a movie in the nominations for the arty awards,
didn't he? Also, who made Drohkaal? And finally let us compare the worst of
both directors..... Mani would be hard-pressed to come up with as
meaningless a movie as 'Party', imo. :)
Call Mani average, or better yet call him a technically skilled director
{ He hates that; says that storytelling is the important thing. Must
have been reading a Spielberg interview or something. :) }, but why
compare him with an "art" director... different oeuvres, right?
Later,
Ikram.
shr...@imap1.asu.edu
Ravi Krishna (rkri...@informix.com) wrote:
: IMO Mani Ratnam is a hyped and an overrated director. Let's take his films
: one by one.
: 1. Mouna Ragam - Very good movie with excellent acting by Revathy. Of
: course great music by Raja.
Agreed. don't forget karthik too.(he palyed a good cameo role).
Its remake in Hindi, kasak was a dud at the Box office.
: 2. Nayakan - Another very good movie and great acting by Kamal.
No questions here.But wonder whether Kamal was a bit inspired by
a combination of Brando and pacino.
remake in Hindi--Dayavan--quite a dud( the movie i mean)
: 3. Geetanjali in telegu and IT in tamil - The first of his disappointment.
: Total junk , but for good music by Raja.
No ideas about this one.
: 4. Anjali- OK movie . I didn't like it because it has a sad ending and I
: don't have a particular liking for that kind of movie. Again good music
: by Raja.
the concept and screenplay of Children dancing and a storyline interwoven was
pretty amazing. though raghuvaran sucked in his emotions.(??)
: 5. Dalapathy - Another junk , MR was in a total Nayagan hangover. Raja's
: music was not upto the mark. Perhaps this what forced MR to switch over
: to Rehman.
Well, a mediocre film at best. i think was spoilt by concentrating
more on rajni.
: 6. Roja - Good movie. Nothing exceptional. Good music by Rahman.
hey c'mon give mani a break, despite the ending. he only wants soome good to
happen thro his movie, IMO.
: 7. Thiruda Thiruda - Total junk , except for excellent music by Rahman.
: Even a 'C' grade English movie is better than this.
It gave us excellent cinematographer in P. C. Sriram.exceptional shots.
Also, the song " tee tee tikku tee" was excellently picturised and also
the "Before Marraige" serious scene between Prasanth and heera.
OTOH, not a great movie.
: 8. Bombay - The most overrated movie. Junk. The first half was atleast
: OK , the second was unwatchable. Music OK.
: I don't know why every
Second half towards the ending "sucked" big time.Otherwise, the film was upto
International standards and could be recommended to any of ur American
freinds.
one says that MR is the best , greatest. It's sad that
: a director of Govind Nihlani's calibre is unemployed and MR is the most sought
: after director. MR is at best a competent director but nothing great.
: One has to just see the movies of these two directors.
The problem with nihlani is that although he is a great Direcotr, he can't produce Commercial cinema
with Artsy setups and themes and good overall screenplay a la Mani.
mani has the knack of producing good commercial cinema.Nobody will go to
see a Tamas or a Drohkaal on theatre. So, Mani keeps the excitement
high among "chalta Hai" crowds which are a majority in India and
also the "serious" crowd dosen't stop flattering him for his
well-directed movies. i hope u got my point here.
Shridhar.
S Jagadish
> : 7. Thiruda Thiruda - Total junk , except for excellent music by Rahman.
> : Even a 'C' grade English movie is better than this.
> It gave us excellent cinematographer in P. C. Sriram.exceptional shots.
> Also, the song " tee tee tikku tee" was excellently picturised and also
> the "Before Marraige" serious scene between Prasanth and heera.
> OTOH, not a great movie.
Hardly, PC Sriram was a renowned camera man right from Agni Nakshatram ... so u
are definitely way off target when u say TT gave a good cinematographer in PC
Sriram ! I liked the movie though ... a fun caper if I may call it !
--
S.Jagadish : jaga...@post1.com, f91...@delta.ntu.ac.sg
Nanyang Technological University
Mayajaal : http://www.post1.com/~mayajaal
Mo
>Its remake in Hindi, kasak was a dud at the Box office.<
It was a very good movie . A good movie does not have to be a hit at
the box office. Tadeerwala and English Babu also flopped but are very
enjoyable.
Prasad Tammana
In article f...@news.asu.edu, shr...@imap1.asu.edu () writes:
> Ravi Krishna (rkri...@informix.com) wrote:
> : 3. Geetanjali in telegu and IT in tamil - The first of his disappointment.
> : Total junk , but for good music by Raja.
>
> No ideas about this one.
Geetanjali is an excellent entertainer. There are a few avoidable, sidetracks,
they're still funny though! Mani Ratnam does a great job of working around
Nagarjuna's limitations as an actor, there are a few shots where these do get
exposed, but then they only serve to highlight as to how well he covers for him
for the most part of the movie. Great music. Definitely a movie I would recommend
to anyone. Its time I see it again!!
Prasad