Padma Shri awardee Thota Tharani has been selected by the French government for the prestigious Chevalier Award. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin extended his heartfelt congratulations to the veteran art director on Wednesday.
Sharing his wishes on X (formerly Twitter), Stalin praised Tharani’s immense contributions to art and cinema, recalling how his portrait of social reformer EV Ramasamy now adorns Oxford. “The French government’s announcement of the Chevalier award for Thiru Thota Tharani, who gifted us the portrait of Periyar that shines in Oxford, has doubled our joy,” the Chief Minister wrote in Tamil.
He further highlighted that the acclaimed art director, an alumnus of the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, would now join an elite list of Indian icons who have previously received this honour. “He follows in the footsteps of greats such as Satyajit Ray, Sivaji Ganesan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Kamal Haasan. This is a moment of immense pride for Tamil Nadu and for the Indian art community,” Stalin added. He concluded his message by saying, “Congratulations on your achievement that the world admires!”
The French Ambassador will confer the Chevalier Award on Tharani at a ceremony to be held on November 13 at the Alliance Française of Madras, Chennai.
With a career spanning over four decades, Thota Tharani has left an indelible mark on Indian cinema through his meticulous production design and visual storytelling. A frequent collaborator of directors Mani Ratnam and Shankar, he has won two National Awards, four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and three Nandi Awards, among several other honours.
His body of work includes some of Indian cinema’s most visually iconic films — Nayakan, Thalapathi, Sagara Sangamam, Geethanjali, Sivaji, Dasavatharam, and more recently, Ponniyin Selvan.
Having begun his journey with Singeetam Srinivasa Rao’s Telugu film Sommokadidhi Sokokadidhiin 1978, Tharani’s artistry continues to influence generations of filmmakers and designers. In 2001, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India for his contributions to the field of art and cinema.