'I’m protective of him...' : Suhasini reveals secret behind her marriage with Mani Ratnam

In an exclusive conversation, veteran actor-director Suhasini Mani Ratnam offers a glimpse into her enduring personal and professional partnership with her acclaimed filmmaker-husband Mani Ratnam. As one of Indian cinema's most revered power couples, their unwavering support for each other has become the bedrock of their success.

Throwing light on their partnership as life and work partners, Suhasini said, “We both listen to each other’s creative output. We might not on that particular day when the idea came out to me or to him, but I respect his creative ability and he respects my creative ability. So, there cannot be any major arguments. Yes, there will be arguments because I’m very concerned about him.”

Ask her what concerns her about the ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ director and she says, “When he kind of works with a cinematographer who uses four letter words in every sentence, I tell him it’s going to come into your dialogues since you’re so close to him. Those kinds of influences are what I’m worried about because cinema is a reflection of life. Whatever you see in life, is reflected in cinemas. So, I’m watching him. And he also watches me. He tells me I shouldn’t take everything for granted, and that I have to not work hard, but smart.”

Their strong marital partnership has also reflected in their work that they have done together. Not only just in their personal lives, they are equally respectful of each other when it’s about their professional collaborations. To this, Suhasini added: “We have respected each other’s work from the beginning, otherwise we wouldn’t have written films together. Till ‘Ravana,’ I have written with him whether it was ‘Roja,’ ‘Thiruda Thiruda,’ ‘Iruvar’ or any other film that he has done. I was the official dialogue writer for those four films.”

According to Suhasini, growing up with similar values and sharing similar tastes are what have made their relationship stronger.

“We’ve worked together because we think alike; we come from a similar middle class, semi-city, semi-town kind of an upbringing. Our parents have similar values, our siblings have similar values, we like cricket, we like English, we love crosswords, we like Beatles’ music, we like Iliyaraja’s music, we like RD Burman’s music, we like Amitabh Bachchan, we like Dilip Kumar, We like Kamil Haasan, SP Balasubramaniyam. We grew up in a  very similar background. So, our tastes are very much alike. We don’t have too many creative differences. Maybe in execution I might tell him that you’re working too hard, because I’m protective of him.”

The couple got married in August 1988, and have a son. They also jointly run their production house, Madras Talkies, which has backed several acclaimed projects as ‘Dil Se..,’ ‘Saathiya,’ 'Aayutha Ezhuthu,' 'Yuva,’ ‘Guru,’ and the blockbuster hit periodical drama franchise, ‘Ponniyin Selvan.’