Manju Ramanan is the founder and owner of Manju Ramanan Talks.
Muhammad Yusuf, feature writer
Manju Ramanan is an Indian editor and cross-content specialist based in Dubai who, after relocating to the United Arab Emirates, created five illustrated books on the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah while also being the editor of magazines such as RAK Today, Ajman Today and (Deputy Editor ) was ) UAE Digest. One of her illustrated books, Golden Tribute, on His Highness Sheikh Saqr Al Qasimi, the late ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, was honored by the Swiss Consulate and the Royal Family alike. In 2011 she joined Filmfare Middle East as an editor while covering several Bollywood events and press conferences.
Star-studded events she attended included the premiere of The Dirty Picture (starring Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi) at the Grand Cineplex, Dubai and the press conference of the film Mausam, starring Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, held “At The Top” of the Burj Khalifa. In 2021, Ramanan organized Filmfare ME Achiever’s Night at Meydan Hotel where about 40 Bollywood stars performed and received congratulations.
For the first time ever, Arab celebrity, Egyptian actor and music lover Mohamed Ramadan made history when he performed at a Filmfare event. A passionate saree wearer and lover, Ramanan also organized the Dubai Women’s Run in 2017, where she challenged 33 Indian women to run 5km in hand-woven cotton sarees! She is also a playwright, having successfully written and directed the satire Just Like That with co-writer Asad Raza Khan.
She has translated Irshad Kamil’s book Kaali Aurat Ka Khaab (The Dreams of the Black Woman) from Hindi into English. She has also hosted TV shows and live events and is the founder and owner of Manju Ramanan Talks, a platform for her interviews with Bollywood, Hollywood and Middle Eastern celebrities. She supports women-led companies. Manju Ramanan supports Gulf Today with her answers
You represented Filmfare in the Gulf region.Tell us about your work there.
I joined Filmfare Middle East in 2011. I’ve built the brand from the ground up and given it a Middle Eastern flair by collaborating with the Dubai Film Festival, nurturing local film talent and working with film production houses on film premieres and activations – The Dirty Bild, Mausam, Rocky Handsome and more. Interviewing Bollywood, South Indian, Arab and Pakistani celebrities daily, I made sure the Middle East issue caused a stir in that region. We’ve done cover shoots, cover launches and events.
In 2015 we did the FilmfareME5 where I got five iconic celebrities to be part of our 5th anniversary celebration. Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Nivin Pauly, Ali Mostafa and Fawad Khan were invited to the memorable event at Fort Island, Madinat Jumeirah. The magazine closed in 2017; However, Danube chairman Rizwan Sajan, who enjoys working with movie stars, called me and we started the magazine again in 2018. We also started Femina Middle East and I became group editor of the publication.
You are now a YouTuber known for your celebrity interviews. What qualities do they share?
I’m just starting Manju Ramanan Talks, my talk show on my YouTube channel. I like talking to people – and after all, celebrities are people. It’s not easy being a celebrity and being judged every minute of your life! It’s fascinating to see how many of them are so real and relatable.
Which languages do you feel comfortable with? How did you manage to become fluent in them?
I am fluent in English and Hindi and these are my comfort languages. I grew up in the Indian state of Gujarat, so I can read, write and speak Gujarati. Tamil is my mother tongue and I speak it although I can’t read or write Tamil. I’ve been following Malayalam since I was born in Trivandrum, Kerala and my parents speak it too. And Marathi because Vadodara, my hometown in Gujarat, also speaks Marathi.
They recently attended a three-day Jashn-e-Rekhta (Celebrating Urdu) in New Delhi. Give us some highlights of the event.
The three days in Rechta were pure magic. It was a festival of Urdu literature, poetry, art, culture and more. It was held at Dhyanchand Stadium and had poetry and art sessions with Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Dia Mirza, Muzaffar Ali, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah and many more. There was Sufi music, Qawaalis, songs, dance performances, Urdu Shayiri (poetry) sessions by experienced poets as well as novices.
It was a treat for the senses and heartwarming that over 80 percent of the attendees were college kids. There was food, instagrammable corners, Urdu quotes and quotes, books sold – all mixed with the cold of Delhi winter – so you can imagine the ambiance!
What excites you about the Urdu language? how did you learn it
I love the culture in the language and being multilingual I try to find word parallels in the languages I know. I haven’t learned Urdu; it just happened to me, and i don’t claim to know. I’m a very curious fan of Urdu. Maybe it started with Hindi movie song lyrics and Jagjit Singh ghazals, and then my deep interest in poetry since I was a literature student – I was easy to charm. (A ghazal is a lyrical poem with a fixed number of verses and a repeating rhyme, usually set to music).
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