Thalaimuraigal was late director Balu Mahendra's masterpiece which recently won the Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Feature Film category for National Integration. A press meet was conducted yesterday and the entire team dedicated their success to Balu Mahendra.

Sashi Kumar Subramani who played the lead in the film, stated that it was Balu Mahendra who taught him how to react, more than how to act. He has been a part of 33 short films out of the 53 directed by Balu Mahendra for TV.

The cast and crew members of the film along with his grandson Shreyas lit candles and prayed for Balu Mahendra who breathed his last in February 2014.

Director M. Sasikumar who produced the film, mentioned that Balu Mahendra taught him that age was never a criteria to make it big in the industry. He concluded saying, “The National Award is Balu Mahendra sir’s gift not only to the movie's team but to all the Tamilians and overall Tamil Nadu as a whole.”