Superstar Rajinikanth received the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the 67th National Film Awards ceremony held on Monday in New Delhi. Speaking at the ceremony, Rajinikanth dedicated his award to his mentor K Balachander, his elder brother Satyanarayana Gaikwad and his best friend, Raj Bahadur, the Karnataka bus transport driver when Rajinikanth was a conductor.
“I am extremely happy to receive this prestigious award and my heartfelt thanks to the central government for honouring me with the Dadasaheb Phalke award. I dedicate this award to my mentor and guru K Balachander sir. At this moment, I remember him with gratitude. And my brother Satyanarayana Gaikwad, who is like my father, for teaching me great values and inculcating spirituality in me. Also, my thanks to my friend and colleague, Raj Bahadur, who was a bus transport driver. When I was the bus conductor, he was the one who identified the actor in me and encouraged me to join cinema. My gratitude to the honourable directors and producers who believed in me and did films with me. Thanks to technicians, distributors, exhibitors, the media and all my fans. My thanks to all the Tamil people – Without you, I am nobody,” the actor said.
The superstar received a standing ovation as he walked on stage to receive the honour from Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. A video containing special messages for the actor from Mohanlal, Khushbu, Amitabh Bachchan and music director AR Rahman was also played ahead of the award.
The actor’s family, wife Latha and son-in-law Dhanush were also present at the ceremony. Dhanush also received the National Award in the Best Actor category for Asuran.
In April 2021, the central government announced that Rajinikanth was the recipient of the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The award ceremony was delayed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
