When Mani Ratnam said 'actors like Shah Rukh Khan are intelligent': 'They're ready to go all-out to make a film work'

Mani Ratnam is regarded as one of the most prolific Indian filmmakers of all time. However, according to an old interview in 2001, the cinematic powerhouse would "probably faint with embarrassment" if he was ever said this to his face. From making films like Mouna Raagam, Alai Payuthey in Tamil cinema, Mani Ratnam has brought to life Hindi movies, too, that have been noted as critical successes like Guru and Bombay.

As the 66-year-old filmmaker is celebrating his birthday today, take a look at a throwback interview when he spoke about the actors of the Hindi film industry and how he admired Shah Rukh Khan for putting in the hard work while doing a film. After the failure of Dil Se, Mani Ratnam shared how a few Bollywood movies had "clarity" in their scripts.

"But the scripts for Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch... and Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge were very smart. There was a lot of clarity in those scripts. They knew exactly what they are doing," the filmmaker told Filmfare in 2001.

When he was asked about new actors of the time, Mani Ratnam said, "A lot of sensible acting talent has come in. Actors like Shah Rukh Khan are intelligent, keenly interested in cinema and they're ready to go all-out to make a film work. It's up to the filmmakers to use these actors properly. We no longer have to cope with the tantrums of actors who're interested in everything but acting."

He also explained the failure of Dil Se (1998), which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. "I don't need to explain it. It just didn't work. Perhaps there was something wrong with the script. Maybe the audience didn't see eye-to-eye with the film's basic premise. I just have to accept the fact that it didn't work and move on. Probably we looked at the problem (of terrorism) from the minority instead of the majority viewpoint. Maybe audiences weren't ready for that. Sometimes it's difficult for audiences to digest the darker side of life," he had said.

Currently, Mani Ratnam is working on his next magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan: I starring Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Jayaram, Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi.