Indian stars congratulate Rajinikanth for Dadasaheb Phalke honour

Indian superstar Rajinikanth, who will receive the country’s highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, is the man of the hour. The prize recognises lifetime contribution to cinema and is handed out by the Government of India. The 70-year-old icon with his unique acting histrionics will be conferred with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award, confirmed Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on April 1.

As soon as the announcement trickled in, Rajinikanth tweeted his happiness. His tweet read: “My heartfelt thanks to the government of india, respected & dearest @narendramodi ji, @PrakashJavdekar ji and the jury for conferring upon me the prestigious #DadasahebPhalkeAward I sincerely dedicate it to all those who have been a part of my journey. Thanks to the almighty.”

The icon, who’s also the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan (2016) and Padma Bhushan (2000), was immediately flooded with congratulatory tweets and posts that were a nod to his long-enduring greatness. The Dadasaheb Phalke award is named after Phalke, director of ‘Raja Harischandra’ (1913), India’s first full-length feature, who is considered the father of Indian cinema.

Actor and politician Kamal Haasan gave a huge shout to his widely-adored colleague with a tweet in Tamil which read: “It is a great pleasure that the highest award, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, has been announced to Rajinikanth, the supreme star and my dearest friend. The award is 100 per cent appropriate for Rajini, who has proven that he can win over fans by appearing on screen.”

Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran described Rajinikanth’s award glory as a huge honour and labelled it a “well-deserved” accolade. Actor Mahesh Babu congratulated Rajinikanth as he called him an ‘inspiration’ and wrote: “Your contribution to cinema is unparalleled! Truly an inspiration”.

"Elated at the announcement of the prestigious #DadaSahebPhalke Award to my dear friend @rajinikanth Truly deserving. Your contributions to the film industry are immense my friend! Hearty congratulations! May the force be with you!!" tweeted actor Chiranjeevi.

"Congratulations @Rajinikanth Garu on being honoured with prestigious #DadasahebPhalkeAward for 2019. You truly deserved it," tweeted Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor.

In the past, actors including Amitabh Bachchan have been bestowed the Dadasaheb Phalke honour (2018).

This year’s jury who chose Rajinikanth for this honour included filmmaker Subhash Ghai, musicians Asha Bhonsle and Shankar Mahadevan, and actors Mohanlal and Biswajit Chatterjee.