Mani Ratnam to receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre Award 2010
7th June 2010

Acclaimed Indian Director Mani Ratnam is to receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre 'Glory to the Filmmaker Award' 2010 at 67th Venice International Film Festival (1 - 11th September 2010). In recent years, the award has been given to major world filmmakers including Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnès Varda, and Sylvester Stallone. On the occasion of the award ceremony, the organisers will present the Festival Premiere of Mani Ratnam’s much-anticipated forthcoming film ‘Raavan’, attended by the director and by the Indian film superstars Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and composer A.R. Rahman.

The Venice Film Festival Director Marco Mueller explains the choice as follows: "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.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.”‘

Raavan’ is presented by Reliance BIG Pictures and releases on 18th June 2010." 'Raavan’ will enchant audiences with its stirring drama and entrancing musical sequences,” says Marco 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.”

‘Raavan’ 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, and stars Abhishek Bachan, Ashiwarya Rai Bachan and Vikram.

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