Maniratnam, one if India's premier film directors had carved a niche for himself. Not only are his stories original and refreshing they are also visually appealing. In a country which produces more number of films than any other county in the world , the bulk of them purely commercial, Mani sir (as he is commonly known) has managed to make movies that have the elements of a good commercial movie and also that have a good sense of film technique. Now the question that arises is what is a commercial movie, according to Indian standards? Well ...in short a movie that is predominantly a musical with a couple of foot tapping numbers, that has the bloodiest action sequences and that had a nice plump heroine against (mostly) an aged looking hero. Also the audiences can be ruthless if one of the above elements is amiss. Then how is it that Mani sir manages to get away with it? Well....for starters, he is a director by passion and interest and not in it with family interest. I think this says it all. He is in a profession that he likes, not for the fame or the money. A thing to notice in most of his movies is the lighting. Lighting is most well used and in most cases it is natural lighting. He prefers the outdoors. Another very interesting fact ..his interests are truly very nationalistic. Addressing the current situation at hand he has been making movies which has been well received. Roja,Dilse, Bombay, Kanathil Mutthamitaal have all been related to terror, interestingly they are each based in the North,East,West and South.Gitanjali, Nayakan-voted by time as one of the 100 best movies,Anjali have all been about people. Some of his best light sequences are that in the pic above from Aayutha Ezhuthu and pachaai nirame from Aalaypaauthey. I wonder what it will be like if he comes up with an noir film.