Mar 7, 2010

Maniratnam's top 5

It took me a lot of time before I arrived at the following 5 movies. Trust me, it was extremely hard to compile this list. Even if I had tried to make a list of Maniratnam's top 10 movies, I still would have struggled. Such is the quality of his film making. So, here it goes..

5. Kannathil Muthamittal (2001)
A young girl goes in search of her mother in the war-torn Srilanka along with her adopted parents only to find her Mother is a rebel. Mani's handling of the Srilankan issue was brilliant. His portrayal on the civilians' plight due to the war was touching. The last 30 minutes of the movie is mind blowing. Rahman's background score was heartwarming.


4. Bombay (1995)

A controversial movie.. in all aspects, nevertheless a true one. Rated by BBC as the one the best movies of 90s, this tore the mask over the so called secularism. This was a bold attempt by Mani especially within a short time after the actual incident took place. My only disappointment was that the movie climax was a bit filmy.


3. Nayagan (1987)

Indian adaptation of Godfather, but also based on real story of Varadarajan Mudaliar. This was Mani's first matured attempt and is one of my all time favorites. Nayagan is the only Indian movie apart from Apu's trilogy to feature in TIME's Top 100 movies of the century. Ilayaraja and Kamal hassan were huge assets to the movie.


2. Roja (1992)

The first Indian movie to handle the issue of terrorism in Kashmir. A trend setter in all aspects. This movie was close to perfection. I personally felt that this should have won an Oscar. This movie also saw the debut of A.R.Rahman.


1. Iruvar (1997)

Surprised? Watch it and you'll know why this is at the top of the list. This is Mani's masterpiece. I don't want to say anything about the story, because it doesn't matter. It's Mani's adirection all the way. A.R.Rahman's BGM was awe-inspiring and Santosh Sivan's camera work was spectacular.

It was tough to miss out movies such as Mouna Raagam, Anjali, Thalapathi, Geetanjali, Alaipayuthey, Agni Natchatram and a few more, but what else can I do? If you think the list should have been otherwise, do comment :)

3 comments:

  1. Philip10:49 PM, March 07, 2010

    Spot on, in my opinion, and almost identical to my top 5 Mani Ratnam movies. Iruvar was his magnum opus, without doubt. I place Kannathil Muthamittal above Roja. That's the only difference.

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  2. Anonymous3:40 AM, March 18, 2010

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  3. Anonymous1:53 AM, November 24, 2014

    Hey good list. I agree with Iruvar being no.1 - however, it was not only Mani Ratnam's direction which made it such a great movie but also Mohanlal's incredible performance in the lead. I would of put Nayagan a very close second above Roja. I always felt Dil Se/Uyire was a brilliant movie aswell - would of definitely put it in my top 5. Its a movie I've come to appreciate more on repeat viewings.

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