Director Mani Ratnam's filmmaking style, story and screenplays have won him much fanfare and popularity across India, and the director had capitalised on this by bringing his films in both Tamil as well Hindi languages. In 2004, he made Yuva with Abhishek Bachchan which found critical acclaim in the years that came by. But when he recreated this in 2010 with Raavanan, its Hindi version Raavan performed underwhelmingly at the box office.
Speaking about the film's failure to resonate with the Hindi audiences, Mani Ratnam noted that making Raavan as a bilingual was a "mistake." The noted director also said that creating two films back-to-back took a toll on him, which might have lead to the film garnering unfavourable reviews. "It was a case of neither here nor there," he said, in an interview with The Times of India back then.
Raavanan starred Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Prithviraj in the lead roles along with a supporting cast led by Karthik, Prabhu and Priyamani. With the film, Aishwarya Rai was returning to Tamil films a decade after Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000). Abhishek Bachchan reprised Vikram's role in Raavan. Additionally, the film was dubbed in Telugu as Villain. A year later, it was remade in Bengali as Tiger Number One.
Mani Ratnam last made Thug Life with Kamal Haasan. Released last year, the film featured an ensemble cast including Silambarasan, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Abhirami, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ali Fazal, Sanjana Krishnamoorthy and Tanikella Bharani, among others. The film, released amid massive anticipation, garnered mixed reviews.
Up next, he is working on a project with Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi in leading roles. Madras Talkies is backing the film with Lyca Productions and India Talkies. Details about the genre, plot, extended cast and crew of the upcoming project remain unconfirmed.
