Rajinikanth to be honoured with prestigious 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Legendary Indian actor Rajinikanth will be honoured with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest film honour for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. This was informed by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on April 1, 2021.

The Union Minister tweeted saying that the Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 will be awarded to one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema Rajnikant. He continued by saying that the actor's contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic.

Happy to announce #Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 to one of the greatest actors in history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji

His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic

I thank Jury @ashabhosle @SubhashGhai1 @Mohanlal@Shankar_Live #BiswajeetChatterjee pic.twitter.com/b17qv6D6BP

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) April 1, 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated the veteran actor with a tweet that read, "Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that’s Shri @rajinikanth Ji for you." He added saying that it is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. 

Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that’s Shri @rajinikanth Ji for you.

It is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Congratulations to him.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 1, 2021

The jury that decided the winner this year comprised Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, iconic playback singer Asha Bhosle, director-producer Subhash Ghai and music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan and Biswajeet Chatterjee.

The megastar took to Twitter to express his gratitude for being honoured with the prestigious award. He dedicated the honour to  those who have been a part of his journey.

My heartfelt thanks to the government of india, respected & dearest @narendramodi ji, @PrakashJavdekar ji and the jury for conferring upon me the prestigious #DadasahebPhalkeAward I sincerely dedicate it to all those who have been a part of my journey. Thanks to the almighty 🙏🏻

— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) April 1, 2021

Significance

Rajinikanth has now become the 12th South Indian to win the coveted award. Previously, legends like Dr. Rajkumar, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao and K Balachander have been honoured with the prestigious award. 

About Rajnikanth 

•Rajinikanth, who enjoys a demigod status in the south had made his debut in Tamil cinema with K. Balachander's 1975 film "Apoorva Raagangal". He is known as Thalaivar by his fans. 

•His 1995 film Baashha, which was directed by Suresh Krissna, was a major commercial success and earned the actor a 'god-like' status in Tamil Nadu. He had played the role of a crime boss in the film.

•His 2007 film Sivaji had become the third Indian film to enter the 100 crore club. 

•The Government of India honoured the actor with the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016. 

Dadasaheb Phalke Award

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest honour in cinema and is presented annually at the National Film Awards by the Directorate of Film Festivals of the Information and Broadcasting ministry of the central government. 
The first-ever recipient of the award was actress Devika Rani and the recent recipients include veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna, filmmaker K.Vishwanath and Manoj Kumar.