Acclaiming Mani Ratnam as the leading innovators in modern Indian cinema, the Venice International Film Festival has decided to honor the director of "Raavan" with the 2010 Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award.

The award given in association with Swiss watch-maker Jaeger-LeCoultre awarded other major world filmproducers such as Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Varda and Sylvester Stallone in recent years.

Marco Mueller, the Venice Film Festival Director, stated, "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," Mueller noted.

As in earlier versions, Ratnam will also be presented with a Reverso Jaeger-LeCoultre watch, a unique model with an honoring engraving.

On the time of the award ceremony, the Mostra communication agency will present the festival premiere of Mani's "Ravaan", attended by the director and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, and Academy award winner music director A. R. Rahman.

Enlivened by the music compiled by Rahman, the film has everything including drama, action, romantic episode and music.

Produced in partnership with Reliance Big Pictures and distributed internationally by Reliance Big Pictures and IM Global, "Ravaan" opens in due t hit theatres on June 18. (With Inputs from Agencies)