The Chennai International Film Festival, which had been almost dropped after unprecedented floods in December, came to a star-studded close with actors Nayanthara and Arvind Swami in attendance.
While Nayanthara was presented with the Youth Icon award and the K. Balachander award for best female actor, Arvind Swami bagged the K. Balachander award for his performance as the stylish and unapologetic villain in his latest film, Thani Oruvan .
After uttering a popular dialogue from Thani Oruvan to a vociferous crowd, and thanking his mentor, filmmaker Mani Ratnam, Arvind Swami donated his prize money to a charity.
Actor Lakshmanan won the Special Jury Award for playing the role of a 75-year-old man going through a personal crisis at the fag end of his life, in Radiopetti . He was presented with a trophy and a cash award.
Of the 12 movies that participated in the competition section, Anucharan’s Kirumi , a bold take on the nexus among police, police informers and the crime world, won the first place.
Speaking on stage after receiving the trophy, Anucharan said he wanted to make movies about the interaction between the police and criminals even while portraying the common man as a hero. “I wanted to make a film about how the worlds of police and criminals overlap,” he says.
The second place went to Hari Vishwanath’s Radiopetti .
