Mani Ratnam - Early Life and Background

Early Life and Background

Mani Ratnam was born as Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam in Madurai, Madras Presidency, the present day Tamil Nadu His father, Ratnam Iyer, was a film producer who worked under the banner of production company, Venus Pictures. Ratnam grew up in Chennai, doing his schooling there completed his graduation with a degree in commerce at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College which is affiliated with Madras University, Chennai and then obtained an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, after which he worked as a management consultant before becoming a filmmaker.

Ratnam had two brothers—G. Venkateswaran and G. Srinivasan—both of them film producers. The former was a prominent personality who produced many of Ratnam's films, including Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Agni Natchathiram, Thalapathi, and Anjali, later committed suicide in 2003, reportedly because of financial problems. His younger brother, G. Srinivasan died in an accident while trekking in Manali on 27 May 2007. In 1988 Ratnam married Suhasini, the niece of Kamal Haasan and daughter of Charuhasan. Suhasini is a National Award-winning actress and a well-known filmmaker as well. They have a son named Nandhan. Charuhasan, his father-in-law, is a National Award-winning actor. Ratnam lives in Alwarpet, Chennai, where he runs Madras Talkies, his production company.