Rajnikant
South Indian superstar Rajnikant

South Indian superstar Rajinikanth has been honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 at the 67th National Film Awards.

Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar announced it on Twitter, terming Rajnikant as one of the greatest and iconic actors of Indian cinema, a report stated.

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“Happy to announce #Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2020 to one of the greatest actors in history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji. His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic,” Prakash Javadekar tweeted.

The actor who had been born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016.

The prestigious award was instituted in 1969 and the Indian government confers it on people who have made tremendous contributions in enriching Indian cinema during the annual National Film Awards held in the national capital every year.

The award is named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, the father of Indian cinema.

The jury comprised of Asha Bhonsle, Mohanlal, Subhash Ghai, Biswajeet Chatterjee and Shankar Mahadevan.

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Best wishes from important personalities as well as people from the Indian film fraternity congratulating the seasoned actor on his feat poured in on Twitter.

Rajinikanth had forayed into the film industry in 1975 with the Tamil movie ‘Apoorva Raagangal’ directed by K Balachander.

However, it was the Tamil film ‘Baashha’ that catapulted him to success in 1995. He essayed the role of a crime leader in the film.

In 2007 his movie ‘Sivaji: The Boss’ became the third Indian movie to enter the Rs 100 crore club and also went on to win the National Film Award.

Rajinikanth also has four Tamil Nadu State Film awards to his credit.

The actor will be seen in the upcoming film ‘Annaatthe’ soon.

His last film was ‘Darbar’ that released last year.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan had been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke award last year.