Mumbai, May 10: In a rare gesture, union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari specially flew down to Mumbai to present the prestigious 44th Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement to veteran character actor Pran Kishan Sikand, famous as Pran.
The frail 93-year-old Pran was unable to travel to New Delhi May 3 when the national film awards were given away by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Tewari was accompanied by Information and Broadcasting secretary U.K. Varma, officials from the ministry and from the Directorate of Film Festivals. He presented the award, comprising a Swarn Kamal, a citation, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs.one million (Rs.10 lakh) to Pran.
"It is an honour for me to present this award to Pran saheb in person, in the centenary year of Indian cinema. Pran saheb is one of the most deserving persons to get the award and this has added lustre to the Dadasaheb Phalke Award," Tewari said, paying glorious tributes to Pran.
