Actor Rajinikanth has been honoured with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke award. Confirming the news, Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar wrote, “Happy to announce #Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2020 to one of the greatest actors in history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji. His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic. ”His colleagues of the film industry and other important personalities rushed to wish the superstar via social media. One of the first people to wish him was the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM tweeted, “Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality…that’s Shri@rajinikanth Ji for you. It is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Congratulations to him.”
The superstar has now took to Twitter to express his gratitude, "My heartfelt thanks to the government of India, respected & dearest @narendramodi ji, @PrakashJavdekar ji and the jury for conferring upon me the prestigious #DadasahebPhalkeAward I sincerely dedicate it to all those who have been a part of my journey. Thanks to the almighty." In his next tweet, he further wrote, "Immensely humbled and honoured with your greetings and the most prestigious #DadasahebPhalkeAward award respected and dearest Shri @narendramodi ji. My heartfelt thanks to you and the government of india." Rajinikanth had made his debut in the film industry with the 1975 K Balachander movie Apoorva Raagangal. Post this, he was primarily seen essaying ‘negative’ roles in films. Many films followed, but it was the 1995 release Baashha, wherein Rajini played a crime leader, that catapulted him further into the path of super stardom. A little more than a decade later, the artiste set a new benchmark in Indian cinema with his 2007 movie Sivaji, which was the third Indian movie to join the Rs 100 crore club at the time.