Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 25: At a glittering ceremony, attended by some of the leading stars and artists from Bollywood, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh presented “Lifetime Achievement Award” to veteran film actress and living legend Sharmila Tagore.
Muzaffar Ali, noted film director and writer, known for his classic film “Umrao Jaan” starring Rekha, was also felicitated on the occasion.
The award ceremony was marked by a cultural programme in which leading playback singers, like Ankit Tiwari, entertained the audience with some of the most popular recent musical hits.
Dr Jitendra Singh, in his felicitation speech, said a lifetime achievement award for someone like Sharmila Tagore is indeed the acknowledgement of talent, acknowledgement of versatility and above all, acknowledgement of enduring grace which has defied the advance of years and age.
In his concluding remark, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “I and many others of my generation have grown up watching Sharmila and therefore, I can reasonably claim that for me to present a “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Sharmila Tagore is actually a ‘lifetime experience’ for me as well.
In reply to a specific query from media persons, Dr Jitendra Singh said, his favorite Sharmila Tagore movie was 1960s Hrishikesh Mukherjee production “Anupama”.
Sharmila Tagore, in her acceptance speech, profusely thanked Dr Jitendra Singh and the jury for having chosen her for this honour. She also appreciated the efforts of the PHD Chamber of Commerce which had organized the function.
Later, Sharmila Tagore, flanked by Dr Jitendra Singh, received a standing ovation and answered a series of queries from inquisitive audience, mostly related to her films and her family.
Sharmila said, her favorite two films done by her were “Safar” and “Mausam”, even though she admitted that from the point of view of audience, the two most popular films were “Aradhana” and “Amar Prem”.
Discussing her various co-stars, Sharmila said, Shashi Kapoor was one of her favorites and also her friend, although with Rajesh Khanna she featured in most of the hit films and made a popular pair. Another co-star about whom she made a special mention was Dharmendra, with whom, she said, she shared a common birthday.
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