Phalke award comes to Pran at his home

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari hands over the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to actor Pran Krishan Sikand at his residence in Mumbai on Friday.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Friday called on veteran actor Pran and formally presented him with the Dadasaheb Phalke award at the latter’s residence in Bandra.

The 93-year-old actor, who etched memorable roles in films such as Madhumati , Upkar and Zanjeer could not collect his award at the 60th National Film Awards ceremony held in New Delhi last week owing to health reasons.

‘Great honour’

“It’s a great honour to present the honour to Pran

saab . His contribution to the Indian cinema has been huge and the greatness of the award gets bigger after honouring Pran with Dadasaheb Phalke,” Mr. Tewari told reporters at Pran’s residence. The brief ceremony was telecast live.

Mr. Tewari, accompanied by I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma and a delegation of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Directorate of Film Festivals presented the coveted award, comprising a Swarn Kamal, citation, shawl and a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh.

Apart from Pran’s family members, well-known filmmaker Karan Johar’s mother, Hiroo Johar, was present.