Why in News?

• Recently, it was announced that Amitabh Bachchan will be awarded the prestigious ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’.
• Amitabh Bachchan is the 50^th recipient of the award.
• Last year, it was given posthumously to the legendary late actor ‘Vinod Khanna’.

Who was Dadasaheb Phalke?

• ‘Dhundiraj Govind Phalke’ is the pioneering filmmaker who gave India its first film, ‘Raja Harishchandra’, in 1913.
• The Award is named after him and it is the Indian cinema’s highest honour. 
• He was born in 1870 at Trimbak in Maharashtra, Phalke was drawn towards creative arts since childhood.
• Before venturing into films, Phalke worked as a photographer, and had even worked with the famed painter ‘Raja Ravi Varma’.
• In 1913, Phalke wrote, produced, and directed India’s first feature film, the silent ‘Raja Harishchandra’.
• A commercial success, it propelled Phalke to make 95 more films and 26 short films in the next 19 years.
• Phalke’s fortunes dwindled with the arrival of sound in cinema, and he died in 1944 at Nashik after retiring from films.

 What is the Dadasaheb Phalke Award?

• The Award is a part of the ‘National Film Awards’, themselves a highly coveted collection of honours in the film industry.
• It is awarded for “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema”.
• It is presented annually by the ‘Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’.
• The award was instituted by the government in 1969.
• The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani Roerich in 1969.
• It consists of a ‘Swarna Kamal’ (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a certificate, a silk roll, and a shawl.
• The award is presented by the President of India in the presence of Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and others.

Source:  The  Indian Express, The Business Standard