Younger lot of filmmakers is fearless: Mani Ratnam

With all his years in filmmaking, Mani Ratnam has created some wonderfully memorable films and a whole lot of talented protégées who have done him proud, the latest one being debutant director Bejoy Nambiar (he assisted Mani Ratnam on Guru and Raavan).

His film Shaitan is all set to hit theatres this Friday and Mani is a proud man. In fact, such is Bejoy’s faith in him that he held a special screening for his mentor last week in Chennai and the veteran film-maker is extremely impressed. DNA chatted with Mani Ratnam, who is currently in Chennai…

What was your first reaction on seeing Shaitan?
I was very surprised first and then, very happy. Shaitan looks like a seasoned film-makers work. It is very modern, stylish, superbly made and most importantly, a very confident film.

Bejoy attributes all his filmmaking skills to you. Do you see a reflection of your style in Shaitan?
No and that’s the best part of it — it is all him. In fact, I see more of Ramu (Ram Gopal Varma) and Anurag (Kashyap), both of whom I like very much. I think Bejoy has shown a lot of promise with his first film and he has to keep doing better and better with each film.
 
Bejoy held a special screening just for you last week in Chennai because your reaction to his debut meant everything to him.
I am extremely pleased with his gesture.

What are the suggestions you have for Bejoy as he steps into an industry where every film-maker is vying for creative presence?
My advice to him would be not to listen to the advice of senior film-makers like me. I believe one should make their own films on one’s own terms. Everyone comes into the industry with a certain vision and it’s better to hold on to it and not let it get corrupted by distributors, exhibitors, reviewers, film pundits etc, only if those people would have made it instead of advising.

From your point of view, what is the USP of the younger lot of filmmakers, who are willing to take risks with their films (even if it’s their debut)?
I’d say fearless film-making is most definitely their USP.
 
Commercial success or critical acclaim — what according to you is the best response to films?
It has to be commercial success. That is the only thing that can assure one one’s next film. Undoubtedly, critical success helps but if one’s confident of one’s work, then critical assault can be handled. But it is very difficult to argue against the daily collection reports.

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