Dilip Kumar honoured with Padma Vibhushan award

Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar with his wife actress Saira Banu in a file photograph. | PTI
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was today presented the Padma Vibhushan by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the thespian’s residence in suburban Bandra.

The 93-year-old legend was presented a medal, a certificate and a shawl by Singh, in the presence of the actor’s wife Saira Bano.

Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were among other dignitaries present at the actor’s home when he received the award.

The announcement to honour Bollywood veterans Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and a few others with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award was made by the government on the eve of Republic Day on January 25, 2015.

However, Kumar, due to ill-health, could not attend the special function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in April when other Padma awardees were honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Born as Muhammad Yousuf Khan in Peshawar, Kumar made his debut as an actor in the film “Jwar Bhata” in 1944 produced by Bombay Talkies.

In a career spanned over six decades, he starred in films of a variety of genres such as the romantic “Andaz” (1949), the swashbuckling Aan (1952), the dramatic “Devdas” (1955), the comical “Azaad” (1955), the historical “Mughal-e-Azam” (1960) and the social “Ganga Jamuna” (1961).

Called as the ‘tragedy king of Bollywood’, he also did films like “Kranti” (1981), “Shakti” (1982), “Karma” (1986) and “Saudagar” (1991) and others. His last film was “Qila” (1998).

The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan award in 1991, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan earlier this year, for his exceptional and distinguished contribution to the Indian cinema.