Veteran actor Rajinikanth has been honoured with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke award. The news was confirmed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to extend his good wishes.
Rajinikanth himself took to Twitter to share a long note in Tamil, expressing his profound gratitude at the honour. Rajinikanth wrote, “I wholeheartedly thank the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conferring me Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in the Indian Film Industry. I thank my bus driver and friend Raj Bahadur who discovered my acting talent and encouraged me, my brother Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad who sacrificed a lot while we were struggling in poverty to make me an actor, my guru K Balachander for creating 'the Rajinikanth.'”
He added, “I also thank my directors, producers, distributors, technicians, theatre owners, media, and Tamil people who have given me life. I dedicate this award to my fans around the world. I thank Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Pannerselvam, opposition leader and my friend MK Stalin, my friend Kamal Haasan, other state and central leaders, industry friends, and my well-wishers. Long Live Tamils, May Tamil Nadu prosper, Jai Hind!”
