Veteran actor Asha Parekh will be honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke award for 2020, the highest recognition in the field of Indian cinema, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.
Parekh, 79, will be presented with the award during the 68th National Film Awards ceremony, to be held on Friday. The five-member Dada Saheb Phalke Award committee comprising Asha Bhosle, Hema Malini, Poonam Dhillon, Udit Narayan, and TS Nagabharana decided on Parekh's name for the honour, Thakur told reporters in his constituency Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh.
"They decided in the meeting that this time Asha Parekh ji will be honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, which will be presented during the National Film Awards ceremony. It is a matter of pride for the ministry to announce this prestigious award for the veteran actress," the minister said.
Parekh made her debut as a leading lady in Nasir Hussain's 1959 movie ‘Dil Deke Dekho’, in which she starred opposite Shammi Kapoor. Also a director and producer, Parekh had helmed the acclaimed TV drama ‘Kora Kagaz’ in the late 1990s. She was also honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the country, in 1992.