Balaji Shaktivel's critically acclaimed Vazhakku Enn 18/9 was adjudged the best film. Sattaai and Pizza were the first and second runners up respectively. Mouna Guru was given the 'Special Mention' award.

Tamil teen crime thriller "Vazhakku En 18/9" was adjudged the winner of the special jury award at the 10th Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) from the 12 Tamil films that competed.

"It's very unlikely to ignore such a wonderful film that explicitly captures the dark side of the mindset of today's youth without making room for obscenity. With all newcomers playing the title roles, it's not easy to make an engaging film," said director A. Sarkunam, who was one of the jury members, at the festival's closing ceremony.

The film, which is directed by Balaji Sakthivel, is about the effects of MMS scandals that play havoc on the lives of youngsters.

The other jury members include veteran Tamil actor Sivakumar and cinematographer B.R Vijayalakshmi.

Drama "Sattai", directed by M. Anbazhagan, was the first runner up, while horror-thriller "Pizza" directed by Karthik Subburaj, was the second runner up.

A special mention award was handed over to Tamil crime-thriller "Mounaguru", directed by Santakumar.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan gave away the awards to the winners.

One of the major highlights of the festival was the screening of 'Aaranya Kaandam' on 19th December. Directed by debutant Thiagarajan Kumararaja, the movie did not achieve box office success when it was released last year but was considered as a "Neo-noir cult classic" by many. Movie buffs and critics have been trying hard to get the movie re-released. While the re-release plan is still under consideration, they were able to watch the movie one more time on the big screen. The show was packed with enthusiastic fans as well as people from the film industry and the movie was given a standing ovation. It is worth mentioning that the movie won two national awards under 'Best Editing' and 'Best First Film of a Director' categories.