51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be conferred upon actor Rajinikanth, says Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. "Happy to announce #Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2020 to one of the greatest actors in history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji. His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic," he wrote on Twitter.
This years jury consisted of Asha Bhosle, Subhash Ghai, Mohanlal, Shankar Mahadevan, and Biswajeet Chatterjee. Rajinikanth joins the league of legends who've previously won the award like Gulzar, Dr Rajkumar, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, V K Murthy, among others.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to Twitter to congratulate Rajinikanth on the honour, "Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that’s Shri @rajinikanth. It is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Congratulations to him."
Marking his debut in K. Balachander's Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, Rajinikanth's went on to play antagonists in Tamil film for a bit. He soon became popular for his iconic dialogues and fantastical stunts, achieving an almost god-like status in South India. His films Enthiran and the sequel 2.0 where he played the dual role of a scientist and a humanoid robot, were the most expensive productions in India of their time.
Amitabh Bachchan received the award last. Rajinikanth had taken to Twitter to congratulate him, "Congratulations dear SrBachchan ji !!! You richly deserve this commendable honour !!!! #DadaSahebPhalkeAward”
Rajinikanth will next appear in upcoming Tamil film Annaatthe. Written and directed by Siva, the film is scheduled to release on 4 November 2021. It also stars Meena, Khushbu, Keerthy Suresh, Nayanthara, Jagapathi Babu, Prakash Raj.
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