![Phalke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Phalke.jpg)
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
ceremony by the
Directorate of Film Festivals
The Directorate of Film Festivals in India was an organisation that initiated and presented the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama. Although the Directorate helped appoint members of the jur ...
, 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. The award comprises a ''Swarna Kamal'' (Golden Lotus)
medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
lion, a
shawl
A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folde ...
, and a cash prize of .
Presented first in 1969, the award was introduced by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
to commemorate
Dadasaheb Phalke
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke () (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of In ...
'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 filmmaker who directed India's first full-length feature film, ''
Raja Harishchandra
''Raja Harishchandra'' () is a 1913 Indian silent film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is often considered the first full-length Indian feature film. ''Raja Harishchandra'' features Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhal ...
'' (1913).
The first recipient of the award was actress
Devika Rani
Devika Rani Choudhuri (30 March 1908 – 9 March 1994), usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani ha ...
, who was honoured at the
17th National Film Awards. As of 2022, there have been 52 awardees. Among those, actor
Prithviraj Kapoor
Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...
(1971) and actor
Vinod Khanna
Vinod Khanna (6 October 1946 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who is best known for his work in Hindi films; while also being a notable spiritual seeker. In Bollywood, he was the recipient of two Filmfare awa ...
(2017) are the only posthumous recipients.
Kapoor's actor-filmmaker son,
Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...
, accepted the award on his behalf at the
19th National Film Awards
The 19th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Cinema of India, Indian Cinema released in the year 1971.
Juries
Four di ...
in 1971 and was also himself a recipient in 1987 at the
35th National Film Awards ceremony.
Recipients also include several pairs of siblings, received this award in different years, for example:
B. N. Reddy
Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy (16 November 1908 – 8 November 1977), professionally known as B. N. Reddy, was an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was an early figure in the Telugu cinema. Many of his earlier films like ''Vand ...
(1974) and
B. Nagi Reddy
Bommireddy Nagi Reddi (2 December 1912 – 25 February 2004) was an Indian film producer and director mainly in Telugu cinema. He set up Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Chennai, which was then Asia's biggest film studio. As his elder brother (who w ...
(1986);
Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...
(1987) and
Shashi Kapoor (2014);
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...
(1989) and
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur
and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...
(2000);
B. R. Chopra (1998) and
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the recipient of ...
(2001).
Veteran actor
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...
was honoured in the
68th National Film Awards
The 68th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2020 in Indian cinema. The awards ceremony was originally slated to be held ...
for the year 2020 in a function held in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
, on 30 September 2022.
Recipients
Similarly named awards
Several other awards and film festivals have been named after Dadasaheb Phalke, sometimes leading to confusion. Such awards include the ''Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards'' and the ''Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards'', which are unrelated to the award conferred by the Directorate of Film Festivals. Some prominent filmmakers, such as
Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...
, have proposed that the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
step in to prevent such use of the Dadasaheb Phalke name but the
Information and Broadcasting ministry has said that it could not do so since the names of the new awards are not an exact copy.
Explanatory notes
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
*
External links
Official Page for Directorate of Film Festivals, India
{{India Honours and Decorations
National Film Awards (India)
Lifetime achievement awards
Lists of Indian award winners