Baahubali: The Beginning director S.S. Rajamouli and National Award winning actress Kangana Ranaut were felicitated by the CNN-News18 network as ‘Indian of the Year’ 2015 on Thursday. Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the awards for their contribution to the field of cinema.
Rajamouli won the award due to the immense success of his film, which grossed over Rs6 trillion (Dh329.7 million) at the box office last year.
“I am a man who lives with cameras and lights but I am very nervous to be in front of them. The award would have been more complete if it would have been given to team Baahubali as the film is about team effort. Without them it wouldn’t have been possible,” Rajamouli said.
Ranaut, who has won three National Awards for versatile acting in her films Fashion, Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, was given the Special Achievement award for “breaking the glass ceiling in a predominantly male-driven industry.”
“I am feeling really happy. I know these words sometimes sound very shallow and cliched at these (awards) event because they are so commonly used. But for me at this juncture of my life, it really means a lot,” she said. “These events and sort of thoughtful honours make one’s life seem like a good screenplay and make you believe in the concept of magic which I feel is very important for artists to believe in”.
Actor Ranveer Singh was also given a Special Achievement award for his roles in Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani. Singh did not attend the event.
Indian field hockey legend Balbir Singh was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award. Sania Mirza, Leander Paes (sports), Bandhan Financial Services (business), and the people of Chennai, who tackled the floods in their state, (public service category), were also honoured.
