Rajinikanth receives Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Legendary actor Rajinikanth was conferred with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award on Monday.

He received the prestigious award from Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for his stupendous contribution to Indian cinema.

The actor attended the function in a white kurta-pyjama and was accompanied by wife Latha, daughter Aishwarya and son-in-law Dhanush.

Dhanush received the National Film Award for his work in Asuran at the ceremony.

The news was first announced by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Javadekar in April, this year. Taking to the official Twitter account of Directorate of Film Festivals, India, he wrote, "@rajinikanth fondly called as Thalaiva by his fans, will receive the 51st #DadasahebPhalkeAward, India's highest film honour, on Oct 25."

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2019 was to be announced last year but was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as were the National Film Awards for 2019.

The prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke, awarded for excellence in cinematic achievement, is the highest honour in film and is awarded by the Indian government.

The recipient of the 2018 award was actor Amitabh Bachchan, who has shared screen space with Rajinikanth in the 1991 action-drama Hum.

Still image of "Hum". Photo: Collected

Rajinikanth is also the recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, and has featured in Bollywood as well as South Indian films and has a humongous fan following.

He had made his debut in 1975 with K Balachander's Apoorva Ragangal and has completed more than 45 years in the Tamil film industry. The Kabali actor, who was last seen in AR Murugadoss's Darbar, will be soon seen playing the lead in his much-anticipated film Annaatthe.

Helmed by south director Siva, Annaatthe also stars Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Khushboo, and Prakash Raj.

The movie, which is now scheduled to release on November 4, was postponed several times due to the production delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.