Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman secured his seventh National Award for the background score of Mani Ratnam’s film Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1. The victory felt like a full-circle moment for Rahman, as his first National Award was also for a Mani Ratnam film.

Reflecting on the achievement, Rahman said, “It feels surreal because the first movie I ever got a National Award was with Mani Ratnam and Balachander sir (K Balachander for Roja). It’s a full circle, 32 years later, again for a Mani Ratnam movie. I’m very grateful for his guidance, mentorship and his extraordinary genius. I dedicate this to all my sound engineers, musicians, singers, lyricists, and all of them who worked because we were touring the US – we were literally doing the score in between in buses. We’d do a show and at night we would be talking to Mr Mani Ratnam. So, this is to all the hard work of my musicians, singers, and recording engineers.”