Chennai: Renowned art director Thotta Tharani has been honoured with the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government, one of the country’s highest civilian distinctions in the field of arts and culture.

A Padma Shri awardee, Tharani has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to Indian art and cinema, spanning decades of exceptional work in production design and visual storytelling. With this honour, he joins the distinguished list of Indian film personalities such as Sivaji Ganesan, M Balamuralikrishna, Kamal Haasan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Kalki Koechlin, who have previously received the title.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin congratulated Thotta Tharani on Wednesday, calling the recognition a matter of pride for Tamil Nadu and the nation. In a post on X, Stalin said the announcement of the award had “doubled the joy,” especially following Tharani’s recent gesture of gifting a painting of social reformer Periyar EV Ramasamy to the University of Oxford.

Stalin added that Tharani, an alumnus of the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, has brought immense honour by joining the ranks of globally celebrated Indian artists.