The National awards were announce yesterday and a few Indian cinema celebrities won the Padmashree – that include film-maker Karan Johar, actor and producer Kangana Ranaut, composer and musician Adnan Sami and film-maker and producer Ekta Kapoor among many others.
Pictures from the ceremony show Kangana in a green-golden saree, Adnani Sami wore a black sherwani with golden embroidery at the neck. Speaking about the honour, Adnan said, “Sometimes you don’t have words to express yourself. Thankful to the government. Thankful to people, nothing is possible without them. I dedicate this to my father-mother. It’s not only an honour but also a responsibility, which I’ll try to carry out well.”
As an artiste, I’ve received several awards, honours, love and acknowledgments. But for the first time, I’ve been awarded by the government of India for being its loyal citizen, and I’m indebted for that. I started my career at a young age and got success only after 8-10 years. But instead of enjoying that success, I started working on certain things like refusing to endorse fairness products, to do item numbers, to work in films by big production houses with big male actors. I ended up making more enemies than money,” the actor said in the video.
The late singer SP Balasubramaniam as well as late brother duo from Gujarati cinema Shri Maheshbhai & Shri Nareshbhai Kanodia were awarded posthumously.
The ceremony was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi, with President Ramnath Kovind conferring the honours.