The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the most prestigious
award in the realm of Indian cinema. Named after Dadasaheb Phalke, the
pioneer of Indian film industry, the award is bestowed to honor
distinguished contribution to the growth and promotion of the film
medium. The government introduced the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the
annual National Awards in 1969, the birth centenary year of Phalke, to
commemorate his invaluable contribution to Indian cinema. The first
recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was actress Devika Rani Roerich.
Since then the award has been conferred on some of the biggest names of
the Indian film industry. Following is a list of the Dadasaheb Phalke
Award winners:
1969 - Devika Rani Roerich, actress
1970 - B.N. Sircar
1971 - Prithviraj Kapoor, actor (posthumous)
1972 - Pankaj Mullick
1973 - Sulochana
1974 - B.N. Reddy
1975 - Dhiren Ganguly
1976 - Kanan Devi, actress
1977 - Nitin Bose
1978 - R.C. Boral
1979 - Sohrab Modi
1980 - P. Jairaj
1981 - Naushad Ali, composer
1982 - L.V. Prasad
1983 - Durga Khote, actress
1984 - Satyajit Ray, director
1985 - V. Shantaram, director, producer, actor
1986 - B. Nagi Reddy
1987 - Raj Kapoor, actor, director
1988 - Ashok Kumar, actor
1989 - Lata Mangeshkar, singer
1990 - A. Nageswara Rao, actor
1991 - Bhalji Pendharkar
1992 - Bhupen Hazarika, composer
1993 - Majrooh Sultanpuri, lyricist
1994 - Dilip Kumar, actor
1995 - Dr. Rajkumar, actor
1996 - Sivaji Ganesan, actor
1997 - Pradeep, lyricist
1998 - B.R. Chopra, director, producer
1999 - Hrishikesh Mukherjee, director
2000 - Asha Bhosle, singer
2001 - Yash Chopra, director, producer
2002 - Dev Anand, actor, director, producer
2003 - Mrinal Sen, director
2004 - Partap Sharma, actor, director
2005 - Adoor Gopalakrishnan, director
2006 - Suchitra Sen, actress
