Actor Kamal Haasan will be awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre Arts et Lettres (The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government. The Order is part of France’s premier award, the Legion of Honor.

• The order of merit is awarded “to recognize eminent artists and writers, as well as people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.”
• The Order has three ranks – chevalier (knight), officier (officer), commandeur (commander) – and two high offices.
• Other Indians who have been conferred the Chevalier Order include actors Sivaji Ganesan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das and Shah Rukh Khan.

Hailed as a multi-faceted professional, the  actor-filmmaker is known for his penchant for experimenting  with different scripts and characters.

His roles as an ageing freedom fighter in the movie  “Indian” and a woman in “Avvai Shanmugi,” besides donning ten  diverse roles in the 2008-hit “Dasavatharam,” have been well  received by the movie-goers.

“I dedicate this award to my admirers and audience who give me the tenacity of purpose to pursue to this day in moment my arts and letters,” Haasan said in an audio message.