Back in the nineties the name Mani Ratnam not only sorely spelled prestige but also was good bet at the box-office. People in general were interested in his films and he had successful films like Roja and Bombay etc. If one were to closely analyze these success one could even get a patten in them. The successful films were the romances. In fact his last successful South Indian film too was a romantic genre film Sakhi.
So that was the formula from the genius filmmaker. He used to make the films he wanted and if they failed he would get the success using these romantic films. However in the past decade and half the director had gone too far and has become a box office poison. The losses incurred to his films have been huge. So what does he do again he moves back to his safety net a romantic film to make him viable again.
Everything seemed right but now the director has an unexpected competition from Raghava Lawrence. The situation is such that even in a favorable genre and in his bastion Mani Ratnam is being outdone by the competition. It is now simply a question of survival in the long run. Can the director deliver something that can stay beyond the initials and outdo the competition? This is the only hope right now. And an answer for this will be known in few hours from now.
