For Gulzar, Mani Ratnam is 'Mani Sir'

By IANS

Veteran lyricist Gulzar is almost 20 years older to filmmaker Mani Ratnam but he still likes to refer to him as ‘Mani sir’ as most others in the industry call him. 

"I feel saying Mani is incomplete. It doesn’t sound complete to me at all. So I call him Mani sir. Everybody from the cast and crew call him that so even I have started calling him so," Gulzar, 73, told reporters at the music launch of their upcoming project "Raavan". 

The National award-winning lyricist has teamed up with music maestro A.R. Rahman yet again after their success in Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire". 

But Gulzar is happiest about working with Ratnam, who has earlier made films like "Roja", "Bombay", "Dil Se" and "Guru". 

"It is wonderful working with this magician called Mani Ratnam. I have always enjoyed working with him and I hope to continue working with him," he said. 

He even recited a stanza from the song "Ruth beet gayi" from "Raavan". Later Rahman performed the song live, leaving the audience asking for more. 

The songs of the movie are catchy and have immense recall value. They are powerful, yet soothing and highly addictive. 

The music launch of the movie, being co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures, saw lead actors Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, southern superstar Vikram, Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, singer Ila Arun and others in a celebratory mood. 

The movie will hit the screens June 18.