Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan will be honored with India’s highest film honor, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
The declaration was made Tuesday by India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar in a tweet expressing, The legend Amitabh Bachchan, who entertained and inspired for two generations, has been selected unanimously for Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The entire country and the international community are happy. My heartiest congratulations to him.”
The award is named after Dadasaheb Phalke who directed India’s first film, Raja Harischandra, in 1913.
“There is a paucity of words searching a response.. for the generosity of words that pour in ..I am but deeply grateful and most humbled .. my sincerest gratitude,” Bachchan tweeted as social media erupted with congratulatory messages for the star.
Bachchan, 76, marks his 50th year in film this year, following his 1969 debut in Saat Hindustani. His filmography ranges more than 200 movies and in the seventies and eighties, Bachchan was at his peak, depicting the “angry young man” in some of the Indian film’s greatest hits, for example, Zanjeer, Deewar, and Sholay, among others.
His strength over the Indian box office at the time led French director Francois Truffaut to hail Bachchan as a “one-man industry”.
In 2000 Bachchan made TV history when he hosted the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire which established rating records. Despite everything, he keeps on hosting the show in its eleventh season which pretense on Sony Entertainment Television.
Bachchan additionally made his Hollywood presentation in 2013 in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Bachchan recently featured in the Bollywood thriller Badla, an official remake of the Spanish film The Invisible Guest.
Among his various honors, Bachchan was additionally conferred with France’s highest civilian honor, the Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2007.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be presented to Bachchan in the capital New Delhi as part of the National Film Awards which will be given by India’s President Ram Nath Kovind. A date is yet to be reported.