After the release of Nayagan, “We couldn’t move, we couldn’t speak. We knew we could no longer resign ourselves to perfunctory cinematography and tinsel-strewn sets and an incestuous ethos birthed from Tamil films over the years. The body blow dealt by the film drove out reasoning and rationality. What was left was pure physical sensation,” wrote Bharadwaj Rangan in the introduction of Conversations with Mani Ratnam.
When the book was formally launched by the author and the ace director, those in the audience unwittingly reflected that same emotion back at Mani Ratnam - not knowing whether to bask in his presence or listen keenly to every word he said. Eventually, most people ended up doing a little bit of both. When director K Balachander made his entry some 15 minutes into the discussion, hosted by Director K Hariharan from the L V Prasad Film and TV Academy, there was a perceptible sense of awe in the room.
On stage, Ratnam spoke with a casual laidback attitude that justified his reputation of being a strong-silent type with a hint of humour. Though most of it was self deprecating, Ratnam touched upon facts pertaining to his visualisation of films, his inspiration and where it came from. “It’s like watching Federer play and then trying it for yourself. You know you’re never going to be as good as him but you feel you can do it. You are inspired by him,” said Ratnam about how every good film was a very strong influence.
The director, whose film Kadal is slated for release, also spoke about a few of his struggles from his earlier days of filmmaking, when he didn’t know his lensing or lighting. “It is very easy to get inspired by lighting and movements. But to understand aspects like lensing, it takes a little more experience and you need more concentration, you need to know why a particular shot is working more. Then you start studying it a little more, and then you learn,” he said to a roomful of avid, amateur filmmakers and film students who were listening to him with bated breath.
A large part of the discussion centered around Ratnam’s handling of melodrama when director Hariharan asked the question every film student wanted to ask: “How do you avoid being melodramatic but still manage to use melodrama so effectively?” Ratnam casually replied, “The Indian art of storytelling has the art of drama built into it – you can’t go away from it. You can’t shy away from it. So you might as well use it to your advantage.” With that one bit alone, he won the audience over.
Rangan, who has been a film critic for years, on the other hand, was quiet and reticent, speaking only when spoken to. He didn’t lay off the humour though, when he compared scores of interviews to a Line of Control - where he has to balance his act as a critic and a fan. “ At the end of the day, it’s like we’re two neighbouring nations, we come to the LOC and lean over the fence and have a conversation. But there’s still a fence and there’s still a no trespassing sign. You have to respect the boundaries.”
Ratnam’s shyness seemed to have evaporated as he signed books and posed for pictures once the discussion ended. Even with Hariharan’s promise in the beginning that the book would not be discussed, for most of his fans it seemed like an extended post script of the book. And they wouldn’t have had it any other way.