Raveena Tandon and Naatu Naatu composer MM Keeravaani have been bestowed with the Padma Shri Award in the field of arts. Zakir Hussain has been bestowed with Padma Vibhushan. Singers Vani Jairam and Suman Kalyanpur have been bestowed with Padma Bhushan. The artists were named on the list of Padma Awardees a night before the 74th Republic Day. The awards will be presented by the President of India at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Soon after the awardees were announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter account to congratulate the winners. His tweet read, "Congratulations to those who have been conferred the Padma Awards. India cherishes their rich and varied contributions to the nation and their efforts to enhance our growth trajectory. #PeoplesPadma."
Meanwhile, the Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon is known for her remarkable contribution to Indian cinema. Over the years, she has starred in numerous films and taken Hindi cinema to new heights.
MM Keeravaani is known for his exemplary contribution to the Indian music industry. He has made the country proud time and again. His composition Naatu Naatu from SS Rajamouli's RRR has become a worldwide sensation and is currently nominated in the Oscars. Earlier, Naatu Naatu garnered the Golden Globe award.
Zakir Hussain, also a composer and percussionist, was bestowed with the Padma Vibhushan, awarded for exceptional and distinguished service. The acclaimed musician had received Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan in 1988 and 2002, respectively.
Vani Jairam is a popular playback singer, known for lending her voice to many hit songs in South Indian films. She has been bestowed with Padma Bhushan award. She has sung in several Indian languages such as Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Gujarati, Haryanvi, Assameese, Tulu and Bengali.
The list comprises six Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri Awards. Nineteen of the awardees are women and the list also includes two persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and seven posthumous awardees.
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(With PTI inputs)
