Amitabh Bachchan to be honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been named as the recipient of this year's prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The award is the highest honour that a cinema artist can receive in India. 

Introduced in 1969, the Award is the highest award given to recognise the contributions of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and for distinguished contributions to the medium, its growth and promotion. The recipient is awarded 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', cash prize, and a shawl.

Bachchan, who has an illustrious career spanning over 5 decades is no stranger to awards and honours. The actor has won the National Award four times- the last being in 2015 for 'Piku'. He has also been honoured with Padma Vibhushan the same year. 

Bachchan rose to stardom in the 1970s with blockbuster films like 'Deewar', 'Sholay' and 'Abhimaan'. Other prominent films in his illustrious career include 'Agneepath', 'Anand', 'Black' and 'Paa'. See the complete list of winners at this year's National Film Awards. 

I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar broke the news on Twitter and wrote, "The legend Amitabh Bachchan who entertained and inspired for 2 generations has been selected unanimously for #DadaSahabPhalke award. The entire country and international community is happy. My heartiest Congratulations to him."

Married to actress Jaya Bachchan, Big B's son Abhishek is also an actor in the Indian film industry. Bachchan was last seen in Sujoy Ghosh's film 'Badla' earlier this year which did well at the box office.