Mani Ratnam's mega multistarrer 'Chekka Chivantha Vaanam' is hitting the screens in just two days on September 27th. The advance booking charts have opened in most theaters and shows are scheduled early morning from 5 am and the response is tremendous already. The film with music score by A.R. Rahman has the starcast of the most sought after actors in Tamil cinema including STR, Vijay Sethupathi, Arun Vijay, Arvind Swamy, Jyothika, Aishwarya Rajesh, Dayana Erappa, Aditi Rao Hydari, Thiagarajan, Prakash Raj and Manzoor Ali Khan.

Mani Ratnam has a liking towards multistarrer right from his early days and has delivered some of his biggest hits with the ensemble cast. Here we take a look at his films which celebrated the ensemble giving multiple delights to the fans for the price of one.

'Pagal Nilavu' (1985)

Mani Ratnam in his very first Tamil film opted for a multistarcast with Murali and Revathi as the lead pair while the Sathyaraj was cast as the antagonist at a time when he was rising in the ranks as a charismatic villain in transition to lead roles. Sarath Babu, Radhika, Nizhalgal Ravi, Ravindran and Goundamani formed the rest of the high profile cast. The film is a sort of spiritual prequel to the director's iconic 'Nayagan' starring Kamal Haasan.

'Mouna Ragam' (1986)

The ahead of its times take on a husband and wife relationship where the latter cannot get over her lover has Mani Ratnam's stamp all over the slow moving but intense images. This film had the top actors of the time Mohan, Revathi and Karthik supported by the inimitable V.K. Ramaswamy. Karthik's role has become so popular that its used as a reference point among filmmakers to describe their happy go lucky characters in one phrase as 'Mouna Ragam' Karthick.

'Agni Natchathiram' (1988)

At a time when films targeted at the youth was few and far between, Mani Ratnam came up with this tale of sibling rivalry that caught the imagination of the viewers. The newage music by Ilayaraja and the extraordinary acting by the leads Prabhu and Karthik made this an evergreen film that can be watched multiple times and still retains its freshness. Amala, Nirosha played the heroines while the yesteryear hero Vijayakumar paired up with both his oft repeated heroines Jayachithra and Sumithra in other pivotal roles.

'Thalapathy' (1991)

Mani Ratnam pulled of one of the biggest casting coups in history by bringing together Superstar Rajinikanth and Megastar Mammootty in the same film which is a modern retelling of the Mahabharatha. The film also had the top stars of the time Shobhana, Banupriya, Srividya, Jaishankar and Arvind Swamy was introduced in a pivotal role.

'Ayutha Ezhuthu' ( 2004)

After many years Mani Ratnam returned to multistarrer turf in 'Ayudha Ezhuthu' that first showed the audience a glimpse of the true talent of R. Madhavan who was cast in an out and out negative role for the first time in his career. The film had Suriya as a student leader, Siddharth as a cool dude and Bharathiraja as a wily politician. The female cast was also top notch with Trisha, Meera Jasmine and Easha Deol. Student uprising was dealt by Mani much before it became a reality many years later in the Jallikattu protest.