Rajinikanth to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019

Veteran actor Rajinikanth will be the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019. Prakash Javadekar, Union minister for information and broadcasting, announced this on Twitter this morning.

The jury consisting of Asha Bhosle, Mohanlal, Subhash Ghai, Biswajeet and Shankar Mahadevan voted for the superstar to receive the honour.

Rajinikanth thanked prime minister Narendra Modi, Javadekar, the jury and god for the honour and dedicated it to all those who had been a part of his journey.

Born Shivajirao Gaekwad, Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor in Bangalore before embarking on an acting career. He made his debut with K Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal (1975) and went on to work in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada industries. He also worked in a number of Hindi films like Andhaa Kanoon (1983), Bewafai (1985), Chaal Baaz (1989) and Hum (1991).

By the 1990s, the actor had achieved superstar status both at home and internationally, with many fans believing him to be their ‘god’. Rajinikanth has won six Tamil Nadu State Film awards. He won the Filmfare South award for Best Actor for Nallavanukku Nallavan (1984). He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016.

The previous year's recipient of the Phalke award is Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth’s good friend and co-star in Andha Kanoon and Hum.

The congratulations poured in for the veteran from all industries.