Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), commonly known by his screen name Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.
Despite being born into a film family, Mani Ratnam did not develop any interest in films when he was young. Upon completion of his post graduation in management, he started his career as a consultant. He entered the film industry through the 1983 Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi. The failure of his subsequent films would mean that he was left with fewer offers. However, his fifth directorial outing, Mouna Ragam (1986), established him as a leading filmmaker in Tamil cinema. He followed that with Nayakan (1987). Mani Ratnam is well known for his "Terrorism trilogy" consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), and Dil Se.. (1998).