The Government of India honoured Mani with Padma Shri in 2002. He has won several National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Awards South and state awards. Apart from these awards, many of his films have been screened at various film festivals and have won numerous accolades. "Geethanjali", directed by him won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film at the 37th National Film Awards. Other films like "Mouna Ragam", "Anjali", and "Kannathil Muthamittal" have won the Best Regional Film awards at the National Film Awards. Two of his films, "Roja" and "Bombay" have won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. The former was also nominated for Best Film category at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2010, Mani was honoured with Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. In July 2015, he was honoured with the Sun Mark Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival for his esteemed contribution to international cinema. Around the same time, the Museum of the Moving Image, New York City, paid a special tribute to Mani. His films "Roja", "Bombay", and "Dil Se" were screened at the museum as a retrospective.