The jury of singers Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan, actors Mohanlal and Biswajeet, and filmmaker Subhash Ghai selected Rajinikanth for the award.
Chennai| South India superstar Rajinikanth will be conferred with Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2019. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar announced this on Thursday. Interestingly, the announcement comes just 5 days prior to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. When questioned about the timing of the announcement, Javadekar said that Rajinikanth is being given this honour for his contribution to the film industry and it has nothing to do with the election.
“Happy to announce Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 to one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji. His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic,” Mr Javadekar tweeted.
Also Read: “Can’t Enter Politics”: Rajinikanth Rescinds Political Party Plan
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
The award was supposed to be announced in 2020 but due to Coronavirus Pandemic and lockdown, the announcement was delayed just like National Film Awards 2019.
Rajinikanth Holds Back Political Plunge
Last year in December, Rajnikanth announced the shelving of his plan to take a political plunge. He cited health reasons and said that he will not be entering electoral politics. Post-discharge from the hospital, the actor was advised to take complete bed rest.
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