Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam, known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Ratnam has won six National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Western music elements and often credited with having introduced hip hop to the Tamil film and music industry and started the "era of remixes" in Tamil Nadu. Yuvan has won two Filmfare Awards, five Mirchi Music Awards, four Vijay Awards and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Bombay is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swami and Manisha Koirala in the leading roles, with the latter making her official foray to Kollywood industry. The film tells the story of an inter-religious family in Bombay before and during the Bombay riots, which took place between December 1992 and January 1993 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid led to religious tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities. It is the second installment in Mani Ratnam's Trilogy of films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, including Roja (1992) and Dil Se.. (1998). The film was dubbed in Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam with the same title.
Minsara Kanavu is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film that was co-written and directed by Rajiv Menon. The film stars Arvind Swamy, Prabhu Deva, and Kajol in her Tamil debut, and revolves around Priya (Kajol), a convent student who wants to become a nun. Having returned to India from his studies overseas, Thomas (Swamy)—Priya's childhood friend—falls in love with her following their first meeting at her convent. With the help of hairstylist Deva, who is known for his ability to change woman's minds, Thomas tries to dissuade Priya from her ambition but both of them fall in love with her.
Thalapathi (transl. Commander) is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Rajinikanth and Mammootty with Arvind Swamy in his feature-film debut, Jaishankar, Amrish Puri, Srividya, Bhanupriya, Shobana and Geetha in supporting roles. It is about a courageous slum dweller who befriends a powerful don and the attempts of a district collector to thwart them.
Iruvar is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language epic political drama film co-written, produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film, inspired by the lives of M. Karunanidhi, M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa is set against the backdrop of cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu. It stars an ensemble cast including Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Rai, Revathi, Gautami, Tabu and Nassar.
Vairamuthu Ramasamy is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first worked as a translator, while also being a published poet. He entered the Tamil film industry in the year 1980, with the film Nizhalgal, an Ilaiyaraaja musical, directed by Bharathiraja. During the course of his 40-year film career, he has written over 7,500 songs and poems which have won him seven National Awards, the most for any Indian lyricist. He has also been honored with a Padma Shri, a Padma Bhushan and a Sahitya Akademi Award, for his abundant literary output.
Indira is a 1995 Tamil drama film co-written and directed by Suhasini Manirathnam. It features Anu Hasan in the title role with Arvind Swamy, Radharavi, Nassar and Ashwini of Uthiri Pookal fame, Anu Hasan's mother and wife of Nassar. A. R. Rahman composed the film's score and soundtrack, while Santosh Sivan handled the film's cinematography.
Roja (transl. Rose) is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. It stars Arvind Swami and Madhoo, with the latter in the title role. It follows a simple girl from a village in Tamil Nadu, making desperate efforts to find her husband after he is kidnapped by militants during a secret undercover mission in Jammu and Kashmir.
12B is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed and written by cinematographer Jeeva; it is his directorial debut. The film stars Shaam in his debut, with Simran and Jyothika. Hindi actors Suniel Shetty and Moonmoon Sen play supporting roles, and the music was composed by Harris Jayaraj. The film was released on 28 September 2001 to above-average reviews. Critics praised the new concept but criticised the narrative, which they found confusing.
Nagma Arvind Morarji is an Indian actress and politician. She was a popular lead actress in the 1990s. She made her cinematic debut in the film Baaghi opposite Salman Khan in 1990. It was Hindi cinema's seventh highest-grossing film of the year. She is known for her roles in films like Gharana Mogudu (1992), King Uncle (1993), Suhaag (1994), Kadhalan (1994), Baashha (1995) and Lal Baadshah (1999). She began her acting career in Bollywood. Nagma has acted in a broad range of films in India's languages predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Bhojpuri Films and has also additionally appeared in several other regional language pictures- such as Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi Marathi and Mandarin/Cantonese films.
Nizhalgal (transl. Shadows) is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language film co-written and directed by Bharathiraja. The film stars primarily newcomers such as Rajasekaran, Raadhu, Ravi, Chandrasekhar and Suvitha. It revolves around a group of youngsters and their struggles to overcome the challenges faced by them in society.
Roja is the debut soundtrack album of music composer A. R. Rahman, featuring lyrics by Vairamuthu. It is the soundtrack to the 1992 Tamil film of the same name, directed by Mani Ratnam, and starring Aravind Swamy and Madhoo. The album features seven tracks in Tamil and Hindi, and six tracks in Malayalam, Telugu, Marathi and five tracks in the instrumental adaptation album.
Bombay is the soundtrack to the 1995 Indian film of the same name, with eight tracks composed by A. R. Rahman. The film was directed by Mani Ratnam, and stars Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, while the soundtrack album was released in 1995 by Pyramid. The Indian film was originally a Tamil film dubbed into Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam. The soundtrack was thus released in multiple languages. The lyrics for the Tamil version were written by Vairamuthu, except for the song "Halla Gulla", which was written by Vaali. The lyrics for the Hindi and Telugu versions were written by Mehboob and Veturi, respectively.
Vaagai Sooda Vaa is a 2011 Tamil-language period drama film directed by A. Sarkunam, directing his second film after Kalavani. It features Vimal and newcomer Ineya in the lead roles, with Bhagyaraj, Ponvannan and Thambi Ramaiah playing supporting roles. The film is a period piece set in the 1960s in a remote village in Tamil Nadu. The film released on 30 September 2011 to generally positive reviews. Subsequently, the film was honored with the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for 2012.
Madhan Karky Vairamuthu is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, research associate, software engineer, and entrepreneur. A holder of a doctorate in computer science from the University of Queensland, Karky began his professional career as an assistant professor at the College of Engineering, Guindy, and soon after ventured into the Tamil film industry, working as a lyricist and dialogue writer. He resigned from his teaching profession in early 2013 and began working full-time in the film industry, while also launching the Karky Research Foundation (KaReFo), an educational research organization which primarily focuses on language computing and language literacy. He also founded the Mellinam Education, which develops educational games and story books designed to propagate learning among children, and DooPaaDoo, an online music platform which promotes independent music and serves a distributor for film soundtracks.
Idam Porul Yaeval is an unreleased Indian Tamil language drama film directed by Seenu Ramasamy and produced by N. Lingusamy. It features Vijay Sethupathi and Vishnu Vishal alongside Aishwarya Rajesh and Nandita Swetha in the lead cast. Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the music for the film.
Kochadaiiyaan is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman to the 3D motion capture computer-animated Tamil film of the same name directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin. The original version as well as the dubbed Telugu version of the soundtrack was released on 9 March 2014. The Hindi version was released online on Eros Now on 13 March 2014. Upon its release, the soundtrack became the first Tamil film music album to trend on Twitter and top the iTunes India charts.
Muthu Engal Sothu is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language film directed by G. N. Rangarajan, starring Prabhu and Radha. It was released on 9 December 1983.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman with song lyrics by Vairamuthu to the 2018 Tamil film of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast including Arvind Swami, Vijay Sethupathi, Jyothika, Silambarasan, Arun Vijay, Aishwarya Rajesh, Dayana Erappa and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead roles.
