The genius of Mani Ratnam brought the best of both worlds – Rajinikanth in his finest performance, without compromising his unique swagger, and Mani Ratnam making an easily accessible gangster drama without straying away from his distinct filmmaking style. 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 a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He is known as one of the most prominent directors in the history of Indian cinema. [1] Mani Ratnam. Writer: Guru. The man who revolutionized Tamil-language cinema, Mani Ratnam is the biggest director in south India and one of the most respected directors in all of India. Each of his films contain its own unique style, with beautifully photographed songs and unique back-lighting. Mani Ratnam (born June 2, 1956, Madura [now Madurai], Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian filmmaker noted for his popular films, especially in Tamil- and Hindi- language (commonly called Bollywood) cinema.