Mani Ratnam opens up about the birth of Nayagan

Ace film-maker Mani Ratnam in an exclusive interview has revealed about how Kamal Haasan’s Nayagan was originated. Nayagan was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscar film awards and the film netted three national awards including one for Kamal Haasan. Kamal offered Mani Ratnam to come up with a story-line of his own since the latter was against the idea of doing remakes since it’s not his cup of tea.

“I gave him two ideas. One of a sleek spy drama like James Bond or a biopic on Mumbai’s underworld don  Varadaraja Mudaliar, who migrated from Tamil Nadu as poor boy and went on to become a don in Mumbai. Kamal Haasan loved the second idea and thus Nayagan was born,” reveals Mani Ratnam.