Chevalier awardee Thota Tharani felicitated in Chennai

Eminent personalities from diverse fields came together in the city on Thursday to felicitate veteran art director Thota Tharani, who was recently honoured with the prestigious Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government for his contribution to arts and cinema.

Describing Mr. Tharani as Kaliyuga Brahma, Bharatanatyam exponent Padma Subrahmanyam said he had the remarkable skill to recreate everything from a palace to western restaurant in films. She recalled her major dance production for the Semmozhi Conference (world classical Tamil conference) hosted by former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in Coimbatore, which was among the few stage art direction projects that Mr. Tharani had taken up. He should do more stage art direction to enrich the dance performance space, she added.

Jointly organised by Satish Jupiter, chief executive of Jupiter Events, and Biju Jayadevan, model coordinator and founder of iHandle in association with Park Hyatt, the events saw the presence of prominent personalities from various fields, including actor Meena and dancer Chitra Visweswaran.

Felicitating Mr. Tharani, Nawabzada Mohammed Asif Ali, Dewan to the Prince of Arcot, said he embodied humility. “Art has no faith or religion. We are human beings first,” he said, adding that Mr. Tharani’s art creations carry history into the present, helping the younger generations connect with their roots. “In Tamil Nadu, we can live as humans without conflict,” he said.

Veteran film actor and director K. Bhagyaraj recalled his experiences working with Mr. Tharani and spoke of his creative brilliance and simplicity. Other personalities, including Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner to Southern India Ganesanathan Geathiswaran, K. Saravana Kumar, Consul General of Malaysia in Chennai, filmmaker Jayendra, fashion designer Vivek Karunakaran, and film producer Sameer Bharat Ram also spoke. Accepting the accolades, Mr. Tharani reflected on his journey and memorable experiences as an art director.