Manna Dey, a singer par-excellence : Prez
21 Oct :Nonagenarian singer Manna Dey,Bollywood producer Yash Chopra were among the personalities of Indian cinema honoured at the 55th National Awards, presented by President Pratibha Patil at a ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday. Manna Dey who was presented with the Dada Saheb Phalke Award was lauded by Patil as a “singer par-excellence” who easily bridged the gap between Hindustani and popular music and rendered more than three thousand songs in a career spanning four decades. Dey, who received a standing ovation from the audience, was felicitated with a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a shawl, and a golden lotus by the President. Director Priyadarshan and producer Shailendra Singh received the Best Picture award for Tamil film ‘Kanchivaram’, a period drama about silk weavers of the south. Bollywood mogul Yash Chopra along with director Shimit Amin collected the award for Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Chak De India’ which was announced as the Best Film in Wholesome Entertainment Category. Tamil actor Prakash Raj took home the trophy for best actor for his role in ‘Kanchivaram’ while Kannada actress Umashree was honoured with the Best Actress award for her performance in Girish Kasaravalli’s film ‘Gulabi Talkies’. Aamir Khan-directed ‘Taare Zameen Par’ won the award in Family Welfare Category which was collected by Prasoon Joshi who also won the award in Best Lyrics category for his song ‘Maa’. The ceremony which was inaugurated by Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni also saw performances by Shankar Mahadevan and Shreya Ghoshal who won the honours in the Best Male and Female singer categories.
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