Arani Muni Ratnam# is an Indian film producer, lyricist, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Under Sri Surya Movies Entertainment, a movie production house he owns in Hyderabad, he has produced blockbusters in Telugu such as Karthavyam (1990), Peddarikam (1992), Sneham Kosam (1999), and Kushi (2001). He ventured into Tamil cinema in 1996 with the blockbuster Indian, which was India's Official Entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. He then produced films such as Natpukkaga, Kadhalar Dhinam, Kushi, Run, Dhool, Kovil, Ghilli, 7G Rainbow Colony, Sivakasi, Dharmapuri, Arrambam, Yennai Arindhaal and Vedalam.
Personal life Rathnam was born into a Telugu speaking family at Buchireddypalem of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. Rathnam has two sons, director and actor Jyothi Krishna and actor Ravi Krishna. Jyothi Krishna's directorial debut Enakku 20 Unakku 18 and its Telugu version, as well as Ravi Krishna's first four films, that also include Jyothi Krishna's second directorial venture Kedi, were all produced by Rathnam himself.
In 2012, he built a temple for Shirdi Sai Baba at his office in Valasaravakkam.
Career Ratnam started his career as a make-up man for superstar actress Vijayashanti. Being the Executive Producer for the actress, he produced his first film Karthavyam, in 1990. Vijayashanti won the National Award for the Best Actress for this film. He made films with Kamal Haasan, Pawan Kalyan Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Chiranjeevi, Vikram and many other actors. He later began producing films in Tamil and Hindi as well, dubbing and releasing several films in other languages. He went on to finance Shankar's Indian, which earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil and was later submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Nayak: The Real Hero and Sneham Kosam starring Chiranjeevi.
Rathnam produced the Tamil romance film Kushi, starring Vijay and its same-titled Telugu remake the following year, starring Pawan Kalyan, both of which were directed by S. J. Surya and became highly successful. Later, he produced two more films, Ghilli and Sivakasi starring Vijay. Both Ghilli and Sivakasi were highly successful at the box office. During the early 1990s, he directed two films Peddarikam and Sankalpam in Telugu. He has also written the screenplay for the film Naaga. Later, he changed the name of his production company from Sri Surya Movies Entertainment to Shri Sai Raam Creations, which is now headed by S. Aishwarya. He had done three films with Ajith Kumar such as Arrambam, Yennai Arindhaal and Vedalam, all of which were huge successes.
Awards Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu – Karthavyam (1990) Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil – Indian (1996) Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil – Natpukkaga (1998)
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film (First Prize) – Indian (1996) Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film (First Prize) – Natpukkaga (1998)
Others Cinema Express Award for Best Film – Tamil – Indian (1996)
Filmography As producer YearFilmLanguageNotesProduction company 1989 Dharma Yuddham TeluguBhageeratha Art Pictures 1990 Karthavyam Filmfare Award for Best Film - TeluguSri Surya Movies 1992 Peddarikam Also Screenplay & Direction; Remake of Godfather 1993 Aasayam 1994 Tejasvini Hindi Chandra-Surya Movies Pvt. Ltd 1995 Sankalpam Telugu Also Screenplay & Direction; Remake of MithunamSurya Chitra 1996 Indian Tamil Filmfare Award for Best Film – TamilCinema Express Award for Best Film – Tamil; Dubbed into Hindi as Hindustani and Telugu as BharateeyuduSri Surya Movies1998 Natpukkaga Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil Ellame En Pondattithaan 1999 Sneham Kosam Telugu Remake of Natpukkaga Kadhalar Dhinam Tamil Dubbed into Hindi as Dil Hi Dil Mein and Telugu as Premikula Roju 2000 Kushi 2001 Khushi Telugu Nayak: The Real Hero Hindi Remake of Mudhalvan 2002 Run Tamil Dubbed into Telugu with the same title2003 Dhool Naaga Telugu Also Screenplay Boys Tamil Dubbed into Telugu as same title Enakku 20 Unakku 18 Bilingual in Telugu as Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu2004 Kovil Ghilli Remake of Okkadu 7/G Rainbow Colony Bilingual in Telugu as 7G Brundavan Colony2005 Ponniyin Selvan Sivakasi 2006 Bangaram Telugu Kedi Tamil Dharmapuri 2008 Bheemaa 2013 Arrambam Sri Sathya Sai Movies2015 Yennai Arindhaal Sri Sai Raam Creations Vedalam 2017 Karuppan Oxygen Telugu 2023 Rules Ranjann Starlight Entertainment2025 Hari Hara Veera Mallu Mega Surya ProductionTamilBilingual in Telugu as 7G Brundavan Colony 2Sri Surya Movies
As distributor Vyjayanthi IPS (1990, Tamil dubbed version) Gentleman (1993, Telugu dubbed version) Premikudu (1994, Telugu dubbed version) Bombayi (1995, Telugu dubbed version) The King (1995, Tamil dubbed version) Bharathiyudu (1996, Telugu dubbed version) Unnaiye Kalyanam Pannikiren (1996, Tamil dubbed version) Premalekha (1997, Telugu dubbed version) Arunachalam (1997, Telugu dubbed version) Ullaasam (1997, Telugu dubbed version) Jeans (1998, Telugu dubbed version) Anandha Mazhai (1998, Tamil dubbed version) Narasimha (1999, Telugu dubbed version) Premikula Roju (1999, Telugu dubbed version) Oke Okkadu (1999, Telugu dubbed version) Priyuralu Pilichindi (2000, Telugu dubbed version) Run (2003, Telugu dubbed version) Boys (2003, Telugu dubbed version) Sukran (2005, Tamil Nadu release) Muddula Koduku (2005, Telugu dubbed version) Jaadu (2006, Telugu dubbed version) Bheemaa (2008, Telugu dubbed version)
As lyricist Jeans - Telugu version Boys - Telugu version Naaga - Entha Chinna Muddu, Macarina, Oka Konte, Megham Karigenu
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