Mani Ratnam to Get 2010 Filmmaker Award at Venice

WASHINGTON - Hailing Mani Ratnam as “one of the great innovators in contemporary Indian cinema”, the Venice International Film Festival will honour the director of “Raavan” with the 2010 Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award.

In recent years, the award given in partnership with Swiss watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre has honoured other major world filmmakers like Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Varda, and Sylvester Stallone.

“Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue, Tamil, but has been one of a handful of filmmakers to successfully handle the transition to the All-India market,” says the Venice Film Festival Director Marco Mueller explaining the choice in a news release.

“One of the great innovators in contemporary Indian cinema, he helped introduce the auteur concept to
contemporary Bollywood. His movies display precision and poise, and have always been removed from the bombast and bluster of mass-produced regional cinema.

“The lavish musical numbers in his films, some of the best-tailored in Mumbai and Madras in recent years, have influenced the style of many others as well as the design of commercials and music videos.

“Ratnam’s most celebrated films have become part of the cinematic imagination of the sub-continent,” Mueller noted.

As in previous editions, the director will also be presented with a Reverso Jaeger-LeCoultre watch, a one-of-a-kind model with a commemorative engraving.

On the occasion of the award ceremony, the Mostra communication agency will present the festival premiere of Mani Ratnam’s forthcoming film “Ravaan”, attended by the director and by the Indian movie super stars Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, and Academy award winner music director A.R. Rahman.

“Ravaan will enchant audiences with its stirring drama and entrancing musical sequences, said Mueller. “We are proud to be hosting the festival premiere of this wonderful film, which will be presented at the 2010 Mostra in both the Hindi and the Tamil version.”

Enlivened by the music composed by Rahmanm, Ravaan fuses drama, action, love story, and musical. The film tells the adventurous story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of the policeman who killed his sister, taking her through a journey during which once again the everlasting, epic battle between good and bad takes place.

Produced in association with Reliance Big Pictures and distributed internationally by Reliance Big Pictures and IM Global, “Ravaan” opens in theatres worldwide June 18.