Rajinikanth dedicates the award to his bus driver friend, late filmmaker K Balachander, his brother, producers, directors and fans
Superstar Rajinikanth received 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest film honour. He received the prestigious award from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan for his contribution to Indian Cinema. He dedicated his Dadasaheb Phalke Award to his old bus driver friend who suggested him to become an actor. He dedicated the award to late filmmaker K Balachander, who directed his first film Apoorva Raagangal, his brother Sathyanarayan Rao. He thanked his directors, producers, theatre owners, technicians and fans.
The actor attended the award function in a white kurta-pyjama. He was accompanied by wife Latha and their daughter Aishwarya. His son-in-law Dhanush who won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Asuran was also there with him. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award and National Film Awards for 2019 was first announced last year but was postponed because of the pandemic. Amitabh Bachchan was the recipient of the 2018 award and shared the screen with Rajnikanth in 1991 for an action-drama Hum.
Earlier this year Rajnikanth was selected for this honour by jury members comprising of singers Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan, actors Mohanlal and Biswajeet Chatterjee and filmmaker Subhash Ghai. It is the highest honour to be awarded by the government. Rajinikanth is also a receiver of Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of the Republic of India.
On Sunday, Rajinikanth took to twitter to share a statement which said, “Tomorrow is an important occasion for me with two special landmarks. One, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, being conferred upon me by the Government of India because of the love and support of the people." His new movie Annaatthe to premiere next month.
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