Mani Shankar, director of ’16 December’ believes good films don’t need A-list stars – Times of India

Mani Shankar from Hyderabad is one of the first truly techno-savvy filmmakers in Bollywood. Mani introduced computer-generated imagery to Indian cinema. He also designed the world’s first holographic political campaign, for Narendra Modi during the 2012 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. His five films in Hindi: 16 December, Rudraksh, Tango Charlie, Mukhbiir and Knock Out achieved varying degrees of success.
Mani’s cinema could sometimes be accused of being abstruse, but never uninteresting.

’16 December’ released on March 22, 2002 and it was Mani’s debut film. It was ranked among the Top 10 grossers of 2002. It earned Rs 142 million when it was made at a budget of Rs 20 million. In fact, Mani’s two subsequent films Rudraksh and Tango Charlie also economised way beyond what people saw on screen.
Mani believes it’s a filmmaker’s biggest concern to deliver the biggest bang for the buck. So the producer can laugh all the way to the bank.

’16 December’ focused on the siphoning of Indian money into Swiss banks. The well-researched film starred ‘character’ actors like Danny Denzongpa, Milind Soman and Gulshan Grover in the lead and still attracted huge audiences.

Mani was one of the first successful filmmakers to realize that content is king.

“You can’t stuff a film with big stars and expect audiences to flock. There has to be something beyond the cast. ’16 December’ had no A-list stars, no songs and dances. It was one of Hindi cinema’s first no-nonsense thrillers. And it worked,” says Mani Shankar.

Mani the guru of techno-savvy cinema, is a qualified engineer. He feels a filmmaker should be knowledgeable about every department of filmmaking. “For many of my music videos, I was the cinematographer. I know in one glance if a frame needs correction. Such across-the-board knowledge speeds up the process of filmmaking.”