Ash, Abhishek cheer for Mani Ratnam in Cannes

We all know that director Mani Ratnam is a genius.

In what could be a another feather in his cap, the director who is almost ready with the bilingual Raavan (Raavanan in Tamil), will be honoured with Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September.

This was announced at the ongoing Cannes film festival by Venice Film Festival director Marco Mueller just before the launch of Raavan.

Ratnam's wife was there along with the cast comprising of Aishwarya Rai, her husband Abhishek Bachchan and Vikram to receive the honour.

Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at the Venice Film Festival.

"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,"  Mueller said.

"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 Chennai 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," he added.

"Raavan will enchant audiences with its stirring drama and entrancing musical sequences," Mueller continued.

"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 the two-time Academy Award winner A R Rahman, 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.

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.