Its one of the wonders of the world that two inimitable giants of Tamil cinema, Mani Ratnam and Ilayaraja share their birthdays as well. Today while feeling lucky to exist during their times we will also do well to reminiscence on their timeless collaborative gems that define cinema itself in the modern era.

Mani Ratnam ushered in the visual storytelling technique to Kollywood which otherwise depended largely on dialogues to convey emotions.  The Isaigniani filled in the gaps and gave the audience the essential essence of the story through his songs and background scores especially in Mani's films. 

Though the Mani Ratnam's first ever film 'Pallavi Anu Pallavi' had Ilayaraja's music it was 'Pagal Nilavu' and 'Idhaya Koil' that clicked with the audiences and then there was looking back.  The background score of 'Mouna Ragam' is so popular even to this day that it has become a cultural symbol and fans have byhearted the sounds to play it for their own emotions.

The Ilayaraja-Mani Ratnam magic abruptly came to a stop in 1991 after giving a chartbuster album 'Thalapathy' that is still holds the audience's attention as much for the Raja music as the presence of acting legends Mammootty and Rajinikanth.  

There dream of every Tamil cinema lover is to once again see the legends Raja and Mani reuniting and enthralling them once again and until then lets celebrate both their birthdays in the same breath.  Happy Birthday Mani Ratnam the visual magician and Happy Birthday Ilayaraja the Brahma of music.