Industry colleagues and friends of ace director Maniratnam called on his office to congratulate him for the honour that he received at the Venice Film Festival. The group included ace directors Balu Mahendra, Linguswamy, S P Jagannathan, Vasanth, Rajakumaran, Bhagyaraj and others. The hailed the director as one of the most creative and skillful directors of Indian cinema.  ‘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,', said Marco Mueller explaining why Mani was chosen for the award.