Mumbai, Dec 13 : Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was on Sunday honoured with Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian award, by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The 93-year-old cine icon was bestowed with the honour at his residence here just two days after his birthday.
His close friend Udaya Tara Nayar and compiler of the actor’s autobiography, “The Substance and the Shadow”, told IANS that the actor was felicitated on Sunday afternoon.
He was presented the Padma Vibhushan medallion, a certificate and a shawl by Singh.
Present on the occasion were his actress-wife Saira Bano, Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Born in Peshawar now in Pakistan, Dilip Kumar, whose real name is Yusuf Khan, entered the Indian film industry in the black-and-white era and became a name to reckon with in the 1950s and 1960s.
He is credited for films like “Aan”, “Daag”, “Madhumati”, “Paigham”, “Leader” and “Ram Aur Shyam”.
His cinematic gems range from the tragic story of “Devdas”, the historical love saga “Mughal-E-Azam” to the dacoit drama “Ganga Jamuna”.
After working for about six decades, he stepped away from the arclights in 1998. His last movie was “Qila”.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore congratulated the actor.
He tweeted: “Congrats to the screen legend for being conferred Padma Vibhushan. His touching cinematic performances are inspiration for many.”
In April, Dilip Kumar could not attend the investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan due to poor health.—IANS
Compared to the above, based on the YouTube video that I watched, I commented as follows on the Indian Express on-line version today:
I could not reconcile why the “recipient” didn’t show any emotion while he was honorably kissed (on the forehead) by the present honorable Home Minister who was gracious enough in the shadow of a Quranic verse (translated, in the name of God, most gracious and kind). I sincerely salute him for publicly showing “secular India”, who, as a disciplined Indian employee reports to a PM, who publicly refused to accept a white cap from a Muslim. (this myopic example made me hard to believe that its home made scientists reached one of the space planets, and that, too, most economically). What will others think?. Coming back to DK, when SB (his second/present wife, 22 yrs junior in age gave him a kiss, he didn’t show any emotion. Even after turning 90, I have seen YouTube videos where DK is speaking/reciting poems jovially. If he was so sick, the event should have been advanced/canceled. Coincidentally, I read somewhere today that Modiji wants to award DK/Yusuf Khan a Bharat Ratn, not posthumously, but during the awardee’s lifetime. However, DK himself on his tweeter account and IE on its website negates my feeling (beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder).http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/dilip-kumar-gets-padma-vibhushan-turns-emotional/.
Also, see
Dilip Kumar ? @TheDilipKumar
Overwhelmed today by the gesture of home minister @BJPRajnathSingh who flew to Mumbai specially to present me with the #PadmaVibhushan
9:08 AM – 13 Dec 2015
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