In 2002, he was honoured with the Padma Shri award for his contribution to the Indian cinema. Here is a list of five of his critically acclaimed movies that will help you beat lockdown blues.
1. Mouna Ragam (1986)
It is a Tamil romantic drama starring Mohan and Revathi with Karthik, VK Ramasamy, Ra Sankaran, Bhaskar, Kanchana, Vani, Kalaiselvi and Sonia in supporting roles. The movie became a box-office hit Ratnam's breakthrough. The film received critical acclaim and gave Ratnam his Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Director. It depicts the life of a young college-going girl, Divya (Revathi), who is forced into an arranged marriage with Chandrakumar (Mohan) by her father. (Mouna Ragam is on Amazon Prime Video)
2. Nayakan (1987)
It is a Tamil action movie starring Kamal Haasan and Saranya, with Karthika, Nassar, Janagaraj, Delhi Ganesh and Tinnu Anand in supporting roles. It has been featured in TIME's "All-Time 100 Best Films", and CNN-IBN's "100 greatest Indian films of all time". The film was remade in Hindi as Dayavan in 1988. The movie shows the transformation of a slum-dweller, Velu, into a gangster. (Nayakan is on Amazon Prime Video)
3. Roja (1992)
It is a Tamil romantic thriller that stars Arvind Swami and Madhoo. The movie was later dubbed in Hindi. It is the story of Roja, a simple girl from a village in Tamil Nadu, trying to find her husband, Rishikumar, who gets kidnapped by militants during a secret undercover mission in Jammu and Kashmir. AR Rahman debuted as a film composer with this film and his work was highly appreciated. (Roja is on Amazon Prime Video)
4. Bombay (1995)
The movie is a Tamil romantic drama that was later dubbed in Hindi with Arvind Swami and Manisha Koirala as lead actors. The film rightly depicts human relationships against a background religious tension which brewed after the demolition of the Babri Masjid between December 1992 and January 1993. (Bombay is on Amazon Prime Video)
5. Guru (2007)
It is a Hindi movie based on the life of one of India’s biggest business tycoons, Dhirubhai Ambani. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan, Vidya Balan, Arya Babbar, and Mithun Chakraborty in lead roles. The film was premiered in the Tous Les Cinemas du Monde (world cinema) section of 2007 Cannes Film Festival. (Available on Netflix)
Here's wishing the veteran director a very happy birthday!