Hmm..well.. let us c..its like telling which is the best of the best..
Noone can deny that Mr. Maniratnam is perhaps one of the finest film makers we have ever had in Indian cinema..
Though, he is famous for his movies on serious and sensitive issues like bombay or Roja, all hard core mani buffs will definitely agree that his movies centering around relationships and romance are as good, if not better..yeah I am definitely referring to movies like alaipayuthey and mouna raagam here.
What is so unique about maniratnam, I feel is the strength of his charecters, I mean every charecter, is etched in your memory, like the ’my dad is dead’ mentally retarded boy in nayagan, or the ’vellappam kondu vandirukkia’ officer in roja. And never in any movie will u feel so strongly for the protagonist’s crusade as u do in his ones..(from dalapathi to agni natchatram..)
if I were to call his movie making style anything, I wud say ’intuitive’ he goes beyond the mere characters and makes u just believe in them and remember them and be influenced by them as well..
When it comes to movies on burning issues, this intutiveness apart from his but obvious sensitivity and well justified anger comes to the fore..thats why you can sit and enjoy bombay, inspite of which side u feel strongly for. I think he is the first film maker who brought out this human side of terrorism and made us all feel responsible about it..
I think I have blown his trumpet for too long now..here I go on the top 5..
No5:Idhayathai thirudathey and Roja:
idhayathai..:Dont know if hindi speaking ppl know this one, it was geethajali in telugu..a very tragic love story of two ppl suffering from cancer and falling in love with each other..very ironically, the movie celebrates living every moment of your life..beautiful is the word to describe this one, ..
Roja: I dont have to say much about this hugely popular movie I guess..sensitive issues narrated brilliantly...
No4: Bombay: Though ppl might jump from their seats and ask about the justice behind this being 4 and not 1, I personally feel that Bombay gets a bit too documentryish in the middle..but apart from that a technically brilliant movie, which made us all sit and retrospect where our country is going to..
No3: Naayagan: Though often brushed aside as an adaptation of god father, am sure velu nayakkar is one of the strongest characers we have seen in Indian cinema for a loong time..again a sense of rebelliousness and justified anger present through out makes the movie a classic. am sure none of us will ever forget the classic question ’’neenga nallavara kettavara’’ (are u a good man or a bad one?) asked to velu nayakkar in the end. it is sthing all of us are forced to answer and introspect in real life too..Kamal puts up a stunning performance..heard that these two are doing a movie again..hope it is as good or even better!
No 2: Anjali: what do u say about this one..an issue anyone hasnt handled before..a mentally retarded kid and the family she belongs to..their lives told in such a moving manner..noone can forget the kids of that flat and their pranks shown in the movie..maniratnam’s talent in observing ppl and reproducing them as character’s has’nt spared even kids!
No1: I dont know if many wud agree on this choice, but I think, it is ’mouna raagam’ a story of a girl, whose lover dies and she is made to marry another man, who loves her as much. How she slowly turns around and starts loving him back is narrated so appealingly. the portrayal of characters, the sweet love growing in them all told in a backdrop very very normal and down to earth, with some brilliant music by ilayaraja all make it a never to be forgotten movie.Am sure noone can watch it just once...good music by ilayaraja and stellar performances by revathi, mohan and karthik make this a must see.
I know I havent probably done justice to his other good movies like, Alaipayuthey or dil se or dalapathi..but then what can one do with so much good ones to choose from..as I said in the beginning, it is really best of the best!...