Dadasaheb Phalke Award | |
---|---|
Awarded by Directorate of Film Festivals | |
Type | National |
Category | Indian Cinema |
Description | |
Description | Lifetime Achievement Award |
Medal | Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) |
Statistics | |
Instituted | 1969 |
First awarded | 1969 |
Last awarded | 2015 |
Total awarded | 47 |
Cash award | ₹1,000,000 (US$15,000) |
First awardee(s) | Devika Rani |
Recent awardee(s) | Manoj Kumar |
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The recipient is honoured for their "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema" and is selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry. As of 2014[update], the award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000 (US$15,000).
First presented in 1969, the award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke's contribution to Indian cinema. Phalke (1870–1944), who is popularly known as and often regarded as "the father of Indian cinema", was an Indian film-maker who directed India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913).
The first recipient of the award was actress Devika Rani, who was honoured at the 17th National Film Awards. As of 2015[update], there have been 47 awardees. Among those, actor Prithviraj Kapoor is the sole posthumous recipient. His actor-filmmaker son, Raj Kapoor, accepted the award on his behalf at the 19th National Film Awards in 1971 and was himself a recipient in 1987 at the 35th National Film Awards ceremony.Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy (1974) and Bommireddy Nagi Reddy (1986); Raj Kapoor (1987) and Shashi Kapoor (2014);Lata Mangeshkar (1989) and Asha Bhosle (2000) along with Baldev Raj Chopra (1998) and Yash Chopra (2001) are the siblings who have won the award. The most recent recipient of the award is actor Manoj Kumar who was honoured at the 63rd National Film Awards ceremony.