You're reading this article from
President Droupadi Murmu gave away the National Film Awards for the year 2020 under various categories at the 68th edition of the ceremony on Friday.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was conferred on veteran actor Asha Parekh, an accomplished Indian classical dancer who has also been a director and producer.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said the award to Ms. Parekh was a recognition of women empowerment.
Ms. Murmu said films had the widest impact among all the art forms and were a medium for an artistic expression of our value system. As the nation celebrated “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, feature and non-feature films related to the life stories of freedom fighters, known and unknown, would be welcomed by the Indian audience, she said.
The President said the audience looked forward to such films that bolstered unity in the society, accelerated the pace of national development and strengthened the efforts of environmental protection.
Highlighting the recognition enjoyed by the Indian music in other countries, the President said it has been a great medium for spreading India’s soft-power internationally. She pointed out that in July, a popular song from a 1960s’ Hindi film was performed by a foreign band during the closing ceremony of Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) in Uzbekistan.
SHARE