Mani Ratnam Masterclass at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023: Highlights from the chat with Imtiaz Ali

By Shweta Parande

Maverick filmmaker Mani Ratnam was present at the opening ceremony of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 on October 27. The next day, the Ponniyin Selvan director’s Masterclass was held at the Maison PVR as part of the event. In conversation with the auteur was Rockstar director Imtiaz Ali. Excerpts from the event.

Mani Ratnam was in a two-hour conversation with Imtiaz Ali, and audience members. He spoke about many of his important films, such as Nayakan (1987), Geethanjali (1989), Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Dil Se (1998), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Raavan (2010), and some more. He also spoke a bit about his latest film with superstar Kamal Haasan, tentatively titled KH234 (2024).

The maestro’s process

At the Jio MAMI Masterclass on October 28, Mani Ratnam shared that although he didn’t know anything about filmmaking at the onset, he always wanted his films to look like a finished product. He didn’t want them to appear amateurish.

He works hard on the storyline and the hook, and does not take anything for granted. “As an audience, I am evolved. As a filmmaker, I’m not,” he said modestly, adding, “I may not have liked my own films.”

The filmmaker said that when he is writing a film, he can’t wait to begin shooting for it. But once the filming is done and the movie has been released, he does not go back to the film. “I don’t watch my films. After the release, I don’t go anywhere near it. I can’t take it,” he said.

Only occasionally, if it happened to appear on television, he may praise a shot of his, thinking to himself, “Not bad ya”. But he shuts it once he spots a mistake, he confessed. There was laughter in the audience at this point.

On women in his movies

The Roja director also spoke about his female characters. “It’s important to invest in female characters. That’s how they are in the world, might as well put it on screen. From a story to a thought or idea, anything can guide a story. With actors, I don’t want disobedience, I want contribution and creativity,” he said.

Working with Kamal Haasan after Nayakan

Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan will come together again as director and actor after the cult Mumbai gangster drama Nayakan. The film is the aforementioned KH234 and promises to be a landmark project.

On collaborating with Kamal Haasan again after 35 years, Mani Ratnam said that he will be approaching the project in a different way than Nayakan. The director was all praise for Kamal Haasan and his working style. He narrated an incident from the sets of Nayakan where Haasan involved the other actors in the scene to push himself to give the perfect shot.

Oscar Award-winning music director AR Rahman, who made it big nationally through many of Mani Ratnam’s films, is on board KH234.

Ratnam also told the audience at MAMI that cinematographer Ravi K Chandran will be the director of photography on KH234. The same was also revealed in the teaser video of the film.

KH234 Teaser

The announcement teaser of KH234 was released ahead of Ratnam’s interaction at MAMI 2023. The video caption on YouTube reads, “The legends are back in #KH234.”

Watch the first teaser of KH234 here:

Mani Ratnam was honoured with the Excellence in Cinema Award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023. His co-awardee was Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.