MUMBAI, May 4: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, wife Saira Bano, veteran actors Tanuja and Vinod Khanna and others were honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Academy awards here.
Bahchchan got the Phalke Ratna award, while Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar got Saraswatibai Phalke award at a ceremony held here last night.
Veteran actors Tanuja and Vinod Khanna were handed over Legendary actor award in male and female category, respectively while Waheeda Rehman received Phalke Icon Cine Artiste award.
Ram Gopal Gupta was given Phalke Senior Most Producer award, Gurudas Maan got Phalke Versatile Singer award and Neila Devi received Phalke Golden Era award (Shammi Kapoor’s wife).
Among the young lot of actors – Vidya Balan got Phalke Memorable Performance award (‘The Dirty Picture’), Ajay Devgan got Outstanding Performance award (‘Singham’), Parineeti Chopra and Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar received Phalke New Talent award in male and female category, Farhan Akhtar was handed over Best Commercial Film (‘Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara’), Prakash Raj got Phalke Versatile Cine Star. Ekta Kapoor was given Phalke Icon Producer award – Film & Television.
Besides the awards, Big B unveiled a wax statue of Dadasaheb Phalke, the Hindi film pioneer who directed India’s first full-length feature, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in 1913.
Dadasaheb Phalke Academy awards are being held in the name of father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke. This award is different from the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award instituted by the Government of India which went to Bengali cinema legend Soumitra Chatterjee this year.
On the occasion, most senior members of various craft of film production sector, producer, distributor, exhibitor and others were honoured for their outstanding services to the film Industry.
In the Television segment, Ram Kapoor got Best Actor Television (‘Bade Achhe Lagte Hain’) and Saakshi Tanvar received Best Television Actress (‘Bade Achhe Lagte Hain’).
The award ceremony held at Tulip Star in suburban Mumbai was attended by Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Kajol, Tanisha, Subhash Ghai, Raveena Tandon, Rohit Shetty, Ali Zafar and others. (PTI)