Tamil superstar Rajnikanth has been announced as the winner of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his numerous and enduring contributions to Indian cinema. The announcement was made by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Twitter.
"Happy to announce Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 to one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema Rajnikant Ji. His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic," the minister said.
The 2019 Dadasaheb Phalke Award had experienced a delay due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The jury included singers Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan, actors Mohanlal and Biswajeet, as well as filmmaker Subhash Ghai.