NEW DELHI: Filmmaker Mani Ratnam was honoured with the National Award for Best Tamil Film for his 2022 film 'Ponniyin Selvan: I.'
The award was presented by President Droupadi Murmu at the 70th National Film Awards ceremony, held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Ponniyin Selvan is an adaptation of a much-loved Tamil historical novel, and the film has received widespread praise for its direction, storytelling, and visual grandeur.
Speaking to ANI on receiving the award, Mani Ratnam shared his thoughts on the importance of the story and the honor of bringing it to the big screen.
"It's a huge classic. It's written in Tamil. And it's been the very popular, most loved Tamil literature that's been there and I was very happy to be able to make it into a film," Ratnam said.
This Tamil language film directed by the legendary Mani Ratnam was a huge hit in home state Tamil Nadu and across the Tamil diaspora across the world. It was based on a fiction novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which itself was based on the life of the renowned emperor Rajaraja I of the Chola Empire.
The film also fared well in its Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada dubbed versions throughout India.