Actress Saiyami Kher, who made her Bollywood debut in Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s film Mirzya, won the best debut award at the Dasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2017 on Friday night.
After receiving the award, she said: “Dadasaheb Phalke belonged to my hometown, Nashik. I’ve grown up knowing what immense contribution he has had to Indian cinema. It’s such an honour to have received an award from the Dadasaheb Phalke foundation.”
The actress starred in Mirzya opposite veteran actor Anil Kapoor’s son, Harshvardhan Kapoor. The event was graced by many personalities including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini, Javed Akhtar and Divya Khosla.
Actress Kirti Kulhari, who was honoured for her performance in the 2016 film Pink, said she was proud of the film.
“I am grateful to the audiences who have appreciated Pink and supported it wholeheartedly. I believe that the theme of Pink has a universal appeal. It was and always will be a very important and relevant film,” she said in a statement.
“And the fact that such films are doing well commercially and critically, gives me as an actor, immense satisfaction and happiness.
“I am thankful to the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards team for recognising and appreciating the actor in me. [I] will always be extremely grateful and proud that I got to be a part of a phenomenon called Pink,” added Kulhari, who played the role of Falak Ali in the Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury directorial.
The film, which also features Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Andrea Tariang and Angad Bedi, was given the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues at the 64th National Film Awards, which were announced earlier this month.
Veteran actress Hema Malini was honoured for her contribution to Indian cinema.
The actress spoke about how she is happy with the Indian government’s decision to ban red beacons from vehicles.
“It’s a great move. I am really happy with Indian government’s decision of red beacon ban because from my constituency, there are lot of people who make unnecessary demands to have red light on their vehicles so now we are at least free with it,” Hema Malini, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mathura constituency, said.
The actress-politician also reacted on the comment made by Bacchu Kadu, an independent MLA from Maharashtra who courted controversy after he dragged her into a row over suicides by farmers.
“Hema Malini drinks everyday, but does she commit suicide,” Kadu had asked during a press conference in Nanded district.
Reacting to that, Hema Malini said: “Initially I decided to keep quiet about this man’s antics because I didn’t want to give him publicity. But then everyone close to me thought it was wrong to let him get away with it.
“If you react to every person who uses your name, that’s all you will be doing. On the other hand, if you ignore such people, they’re encouraged to try their tricks on others too. So what do you do? I’ve consulted my legal team and we’re all set to take him to court. He will have to issue a public apology. Failing that we’ll file a criminal defamation case,” she said.
