Saira Banu, Jackie get Raj Kapoor award

Veteran actress Saira Banu and actor Jackie Shroff have been named for the prestigious Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement and Raj Kapoor Special Contribution annual awards, respectively, by the Maharashtra government, Cultural Affairs Minister Vinod Tawde announced in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Well-known Marathi film industry personalities Vikram Gokhale and Arun Nalawade have been named for the coveted V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement and V. Shantaram Special Contribution annual awards, he added.

Both the lifetime achievement awards carry a citation and cash of Rs500,000 (Dh28,421) each, while both the special contribution awards carry a citation and Rs300,000 in cash.

These awards, instituted by the state government, will be given away at the upcoming 54th Maharashtra State Marathi Film Festival, Tawde said.

“Congratulations to veteran actress Saira Banu ji on being selected for the award celebrating her cinematic journey and to Jackie Shroff for his contributions to Indian cinema,” Tawde said in a tweet.

He also congratulated Gokhale and Nalawade for their achievements and contributions to the film industry and on being selected for this year’s awards.

Saira Banu (72) started her film career at age 16, in 1961, with the blockbuster film Junglee with Shammi Kapoor as the male lead and bagged that year’s Filmfare Award nomination.

Since then, she has worked in movies April Fool, Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Shagird, Padosan, Jhuk Gaya Aasman, Purab Aur Paschim, Victoria No. 203, Resham Ki Dori, Jwar Bhata, Zameer, Hera Pheri and Bairaag, several times cast opposite her husband, Dilip Kumar.

Jackie (60) was born in Latur, Maharashtra, to a Gujarati father and Kazakhastani nmother.

Living in a modest area of south Mumbai, Jaikishan K. Shroff got a break in Dev Anand’s Swami Dada, but it was Subhash Ghai who offered him a role in his blockbuster film, Hero, with the screen name ‘Jackie’ in 1983.

Over the years, he acted in more than 300 Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi, Odiya, Konkani films, and has bagged three Filmfare Awards.

Some of his notable films include Hero, Swami Dada, Yudh, Karma, Andar Baahar, Kaash, Parinda, 1942: A Love Story, Khalnayak, Rangeela, Yaadein, Mission Kashmir, Devdas, Ram Lakhan, Border and Aar Ya Paar.

Vikram Gokhale 76 is a well-known actor in Hindi and Marathi films and on television, and has bagged the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for theatre and a National Award for Best Actor in the Marathi film Anumati.

Hailing from an illustrious family of artists, his great-grandmother, Durgabai Kamat, and her daughter Kamlabai Kamat acted together as the film industry’s first female star and first child star in Dadasaheb Phalke’s mythological film Mohini Bhasmasur (1913).

Arun Nalawade (54) is a renowned actor-producer, who co-produced the Marathi film Shwaas that bagged National Award for Best Film in 2003, and was also India’s official entry to the Oscars the following year.

Over the years, Nalawade has acted in more than 50 Marathi films, dramas and television serials, making him one of the most successful actors.