Talk:Mani Ratnam/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Secret of success (talk · contribs) 04:32, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Early life

• The name "Iyer" is not mentioned in any of the sources.
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
• "based in the Tamil film industry of Chennai, India." - Does it mean that Chennai has a specific Tamil industry?
  • Rephrased —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Mani Ratnam was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu to Tamil Iyer parents." - Not verified by source.
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
    • Could you specifically point out which source says that both his parents were Iyers? This one only says that his father was an Iyer, what about his mother? Secret of success (talk) 05:26, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
      • I couldn't find any source. Rephrased the sentence. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Ratnam was introduced to film direction with the help of his brother, producer G. Venkateswaran" - Ditto
  • Removed since I can't find reliable sources —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Ratnam attended Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School in Chennai, earned a degree in commerce from Vivekananda College, University of Madras" - Unsourced
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Venkateswaran committed suicide in 2003, reportedly because of financial problems." - The source says that he committed suicide and that he had financial problems, but it does not say that he enacted the former due to the latter. Also, this is irrelevant to the topic.
  • Added a new source from Hindu which supports the claim. I don't think its irrelevant since GV is a prominent figure in the Tamil film industry and the reason behind his death being connected with films. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
• There are two Manali's, one in HP and another in TN. The statement "G. Srinivasan, was a producer but died in an accident in Manali" specifies the TN one, but the source does not confirm it.
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
• "They have a son named Nandhan. Charuhasan, his father-in-law, is a National Award-winning actor." - Unsourced
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

For a start, these issues need to be fixed. Secret of success (talk) 04:32, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for reviewing the article. Awaiting further comments from you. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 16:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Comment "Ratnam has two brothers..." This should be in past tense, "had". Both of them are dead. Also, "The former is a prominent personality who produced..." It should be in the past tense as well.--Dwaipayan (talk) 01:51, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

 Fixed. Thanks for pointing out this blunder. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 03:14, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

• "In 1988 Ratnam married Suhasini, the niece of Kamal Haasan and daughter of Charuhasan.": Source does not confirm the year of marriage.
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Ratnam lives in Alwarpet, Chennai, where he runs Madras Talkies.": Source does not say that he runs Madras Talkies from his residence.
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

Comment: Have cleaned references part. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 06:56, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

More issues

• "Though it did not perform well at the box office, the film's score by Ilaiyaraaja became highly popular" - Unsourced
  • Removed info, couldn't find any source. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:15, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Its score by Ilaiyaraaja became a huge success upon release" - Ditto
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "The film elevated Ratnam's status as a director" - Ditto
  •  Done —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Many Indian critics dubbed it" - Highly subjective "many"
  • Tweaked the info as "The plot of the film was loosely based on the 1972 American epic crime film, The Godfather." -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:15, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
    • Added sources for the same. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 14:39, 1 June 2012 (UTC)
• "a Telugu film would mark a milestone of having directed films in all major South Indian languages. Thus he opted to make his next project, Geethanjali, in Telugu." - Unsourced
  • Removed as it is non-encyclopedic. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "through the Chennai release" - what does that mean?
  • WTH that means :P Changed it to, "Ratnam maintained a momentum of making emotional stories of under-served people through the film..." -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:15, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
• "It was about a friendship between a local don and a slum king, and earned both critical acclaim and commercial success upon release." - Unsourced
  • Removed, was irrelevant. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:34, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Thalapathi, based on the legend of Mahabharata, ran into trouble when news leaked that the character of Karna, portrayed by Rajinikanth,[30] would die in the end. The climax was altered to appease Rajinikanth's fan base.[33]" - Irrelevant to the topic
  • Its a bit relevant, as Ratnam had to change the climax just for Rajinikanth's fans. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:34, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
  • Provide sources for that. The given ones do not say that Ratnam was involved in it.

Secret of success (talk) 06:14, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

• This is irrelevant to this article as this is only concerned about Mani Ratnam. It would be more relevant in the Rajinikanth and Thalapathi articles. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 08:15, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

• "Ratnam took a more light-hearted approach with his next film —Thiruda Thiruda. Scripted by Ram Gopal Varma, it explored the action and thriller genres, was a departure from Ratnam's previous style, and fared less well at the box office. In 1994, a retrospective of Ratnam's Tamil films was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival." - Unsourced
  • Added source for the last sentence. However, replaced the word "Tamil films" with only "films" as per the source. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 12:14, 25 May 2012 (UTC)
    • I believe the toronto film festival was sourced. I remember well that added the stuff from the source. Please check each and every source. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 04:02, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
      • Oops! Sorry and thanks for pointing out! -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 06:40, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
        • Added a source for Thiruda Thiruda. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Ratnam produced and co-wrote his wife's directorial debut film, Indira, and the critical success Iruvar, his next film as director. Iruvar won the Best Film Award at the FEST film festival held in Belgrade." - Unsourced
  • Added a source for Belgrade Fest. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 18:05, 29 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Dil Se.. gained cult status just after it released" - These kind of things CANNOT be stated without a source.
  • Changed the info stating the film opened with well note among critics with a source. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:26, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
• Alaipaayuthey was acclaimed critically? Direct sources or some reviews?
• "The Tamil version received critical acclaim in America, Europe and southern parts of India." - Unsourced
  • Tweaked the line, and added the source supporting the claim. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 11:56, 25 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Unlike most of his contemporaries, Ratnam neither assisted in film-making nor worked as a cinematographer before entering films.[22]" - Repeated statement.
  •  Done: Removed. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 12:08, 25 May 2012 (UTC)
• "Ratnam is well known as a director who strikes a balance between arthouse and commercial cinema. He has admitted that he makes each of his films by keeping the audience in mind." - WP:NPOV
• "Ratnam has given a new dimension to the Tamil film industry" - Not encyclopedic at all
  • Changed it to "Ratnam was referred for bringing new dimension to the South Asian film industry..." Fine?
• Dead links found and tagged.
  • Removed one dead link from Hindustan Times, and tweaked the info in ref to this. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 18:51, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
• "The plot of the film was loosely based on the 1972 American epic crime film, The Godfather.[4] The film was based on the real-life story of underworld king Varadarajan Mudaliar,[27]" - So it is based on both? Not clear at all.

Secret of success (talk) 16:23, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

• Does it look good now. —Vensatry _{(Ping me)} 08:15, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I have struck out most of the comments above, if I feel that they have been addressed. I shall go through the article thoroughly once more, before deciding on whether to fail or pass it. As it stands, all major issues have been taken care of. Secret of success (talk) 06:27, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

As the article satisfies all points of the GA criteria, IMO, I have passed it. If someone feels that there are more issues left, don't hesitate to take it to a GA reassessment, but consider posting it on the talk page and waiting for response before doing so. Thanks. Secret of success (talk) 14:59, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Just a general quip in regard to the filmography - the film's which he has directed should possibly be listed separately from those he has produced/written. Not only are the films he has directed a different quality to those he has produced, they blur his real contribution to films (ie directing). Also Bloody Paki seems to have been dropped from production a long time ago, having never made it to the filming stage and Five Star is omitted from the table totally! Editor 2050 (talk) 12:16, 2 June 2012 (UTC)